Watashi wa Shinigami Desu
by Sciguy
Summary: A dark figure has been appearing in Sakura's Dreams, then he comes to her rescue. He then gives her an ominous warning. Is this being good, or evil? **Complete!**
1. The Cast Returns

Well, this is me first fan fiction. I've been a member of FanFiction.net for some time now, but I'm just now getting around to writing one of my own. The relationships in this one may end up being a little confusing, but I like the idea I have and no amount of flames will force me to change it.  
  
Ok! The girls are all 15, the guys all 16. At least the guys were all about a year older than the girls. They're all sophomore in High School. Since I don't know how Japanese school works, I'll be defaulting to American school standards. That said, I'll be giving them plenty of nice breaks that we in the States enjoy. Also, Christmas vacation starts in two weeks. Eriol and Syaoran are still gone.  
  
Disclaimer: I own not Cardcaptor Sakura or Cardcaptors. I believe that Clamp and Nelvana own those rights. I only own my character, which won't pop up for a while, so I won't bother to give any more details about him.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"BEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!" her alarm clock sounded. Kero rose from her drawer to rouse his mistress. He briefly looked at her and started drowsily to her clock. "Fiery..." she mumbled, and then her alarm clock promptly exploded. She simply continued to snore softly. Kero, on the other hand, had ducked under the bed at the loud noise. Once he realized that Sakura had only blown her alarm clock into a few million small bits, he sweatdropped and flew over to her and started to shake her.  
  
"Sakura... Sakura..." he called. He realized that he was making no progress so he broke out the megaphone. "SAKURA!!!" She kept snoring. Kero sweatdropped again, then he got an idea. He moved close to her ear and whispered, "Syaoran's here." She immediately sat straight up, accidentally knocking Kero down and hurriedly looked around. "Syaoran? Where's Syaoran!?" That's when she noticed a dazed Kero on the floor. "Oh sorry, Kero. Where's Syaoran." "How Should I know where the Chinese Gaki is? I just said that to wake you up. That sure didn't work!" he said, pointing at where he clock used to be. "Where's my clock?" "You blew it up again! That's the third time this week!" "Oh sorry." "Now, it' about 6:30 now, so..." "What? AHHH! I'm going to be late!"  
  
She ran to get showered, dressed, and she went downstairs. "Well, you're early Kaijou." Her wonderful, caring, nice, polite brother told her. "First off, I'm not a monster. Second, it's almost sev..." she looked at a clock. A clock that only read 6:15. She quietly walked towards the stairs and took a deep breath. "KEEEEEROOOO!" she yelled upstairs. She heard his laughter, which only made her angrier. "I'm sorry Sakura, but how else am I going to get you to school on time? And if I remember correctly, you're the one who blew up your clock." He retorted. Sakura sighed, realizing that he was right. She walked over and ate her breakfast. Once she finished, she said goodbye to everyone and left for school.  
  
Street Corner  
  
Sakura glanced at her watch. She'd been waiting for Tomoyo for five minutes. She suddenly realized what Tomoyo must go through everyday. She chuckled to herself at that thought. She then caught sight of longhaired girl walking towards her. Sakura waved.  
  
Tomoyo stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing her. She dropped her jaw, and her books. Once she was finished picking both off the ground, she ran over to Sakura with a worried expression on her face.  
  
"What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, out of breath. "Did something happen?"  
  
Sakura only gave her a confused look. "No... What makes you think that?" Seeing Tomoyo's disbelieving face, she said, "no, really! I'm good, almost dandy! You?" She was a bit nervous at this point.  
  
"Sakura, you are never early. Something must have happened." "No really! I just accidentally blew up an alarm clock that Kero set half an hour early. That baka..." "You blew up your alarm clock again?!" "yeah, so what?" "That's the third time this week! And it's only Wednesday!" "The whole world's against me now." she mumbled playfully.  
  
The two then walked to school. Mr. Terada had a similar reaction as Tomoyo when he saw Sakura walk in ten minutes before the bell. In fact, he almost collapsed. Once she noticed that the entire class had been gawking at her early presence, she turned to them.  
  
"I'm early! Deal with it!" She then sighed as she took her seat. A few minutes later, the bell rang.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu (formal good morning) minna-san." "Ohayo Sensei!" The class said in unison. Tareda smiled. It'd only taken him 5 years to get all of them to do it right. "Well, class, this is a very special morning. We have two new students today from China and England." he said, getting Sakura's attention. "Greet Hiiragizawa Eriol and Li Syaoran." Hearing the last name, Sakura nearly fell out of her chair in shock. no, correction, she did fall out of her chair in shock. She then jumped up and ran into Li's arms. Tomoyo politely waited for Sakura to finish falling and getting up before following her. Except, she jumped into Eriol's arms.  
  
Somewhere in Tokyo, Touya stood up suddenly from the couch that he and Yukito were sitting on. Yuki gave him a questioning look. "Something just happened, and I don't think that I like it..." Touya mumbled before sitting back down. They both finished watching Sailor Moon.  
  
Tareda-san chuckled and excused them into the hall to get re- acquainted. He then announced something else. "Luckily class, our third exchange student will be delayed until Friday. And since I would prefer not to have him enter in the middle of out most difficult chapter in Math, I'm not going to press on until Monday." The entire class, especially Sakura, sighed and happiness and made plans to thank this new student on Friday. And since we won't be pressing on, and since we're missing four students, you may have then next twenty minutes free as long as you keep the volume down." (I made Tareda-san a really nice guy, didn't I?)  
  
Out in the hall, Syaoran, Sakura, Eriol, and Tomoyo were busy catching up. Syaoran explained that he couldn't call or write Sakura because of the Elders, and Sakura naturally accepted his apology. She also told him the story about the alarm clock, which sent both boys into fits of laughter while Sakura sweatdropped. Eriol called Li "his cute little descendant" a few times to make for the years that they've been out of communication. Li threatened and glared at Eriol. Once their twenty minutes were up, Tareda-san called them back in. They then made plans to meet at Tomoyo's that weekend. Sakura suggested that they invite the new kid since he got them out of math for the rest of the week. They all agreed, as long as he seemed respectable (Syaoran's condition, no doubt) and took their seats.  
  
Lunch  
  
Sakura and Syaoran were both in her favorite Sakura Tree eating lunch. It had been oddly warm for the beginning of winter, so they only had on light jackets. Unbeknownst to them, Tomoyo had excused herself early so that she could stake out the tree from a high limb with her camera. As Sakura and Li were talking, she suddenly swung down, hanging from her legs, and shoved the camera in Li's face.  
  
"KONNICHIWA!" she yelled at him. "Ahhhh!" Syaoran yelped as he fell out of the tree. He just happened to land in the arms of the reincarnation of Clow Reed that we all know and love. "How nice of you to drop in, my cute little descendant." Eriol said with that odd smile on his face. Syaoran only stared at him in horror, then he got an idea.  
  
While no one was looking, he leaned up and kissed Eriol on the cheek (don't worry, he isn't that way, I'm just painting a funny picture for all the kiddies). He then flipped out of his hold and jumped back into the tree. Eriol had a really confused look on his face, and stood there for about three minutes before Tomoyo got worried.  
  
"Eriol, what's wrong?" "S-s-s-Syaoran... kissed me on the cheek..." he stuttered out, still confused. "What!? No! You hentai! I'd never kiss you!" Syaoran yelled at him with a grimace of disgust on his face. "Eriol, you must have imagined it! Hey, I wonder who he thinks about other than Daidouji-san?" he remarked.  
  
Eriol went pale and Tomoyo went pink enough for the both of them.  
  
Sakura finally stepped in, "Let's just all forget this ever happened, okay?"  
  
"Agreed" they all stated in unison.  
  
"Riiiiing!"  
  
After school  
  
The gang was walking home and was approaching the separation point (the place where they have to divide up to go their separate ways home).  
  
"You guys want to come to my house?" Sakura invited. Seeing Li's hesitant expression, she remarked, "Touya won't be there."  
  
"I'm in!" squealed Tomoyo. After recovering his hearing, Eriol expressed a similar sentiment. "Sure thing. I'll have another chance to argue with the stuffed animal." Syaoran said. "Sweet!" Sakura said, getting odd looks from the guys. "What!?"  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Tomoyo and Eriol walked in ahead of the other couple and took places on the sofa. Hearing the entrance, and feeling his mistress's aura, Kero lazily flies downstairs after losing twelve straight times in his new video game. He then spotted Syaoran, holding hands with Sakura, walk in.  
  
"GAAAAAKIIII!" He yelled and he pushed him away from Sakura. "Stuffed animal! Go away and Shut up!" He yelled back angrily. "Oh yeah, and who's going to make me?" "I know exactly how to shut you up!" "Oh yeah, how?" "Like this!" "..."  
  
Kero was in shock from what the Gaki just did. He had reached into his bag and handed him a six-pack of Fudge Swirl pudding packs. Kero's eyes were watering from joy. He cried as he rushed in and hugged Syaoran. "Thank you! I promise that I'll be nice for the rest of the week!" Sakura was stunned, as were Tomoyo and Eriol. Kero flew into the kitchen to devour a few puddings. "Excuse me but, huh?" Eriol asked. "It worked, didn't it?" Syaoran said, laughing inside from his hopelessly lost expression.  
  
Later that evening  
  
The gang had talked, laughed, and done their homework together. It was getting a little late and Sonomi had already called Tomoyo, asking her to come home. They were all saying their goodbyes.  
  
"Bye Syaoran-kun" Sakura said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Tomoyo saw this and got a little competitive. "Goodnight Eriol" she said just before she kissed him on the lips. Sakura wanted to outdo her friend, but Li was in a hurry to get home with it so late. Her three friends left, taking the limo that Tomoyo had called for. She glanced at the thermometer outside. "Brrrr, only 5 degrees centigrade out there (about 35-40 degrees F). It's supposed to get down to -2 C tonight." she commented to herself as she bumped the heat up a few extra degrees. She then headed up to her room. On the way, she passed a very fat, very passed out Kero with three empty puddings surrounding him. She chuckled at the sight. She picked him up gently and carried him up to her room. She put him in her drawer and grabbed one of her spare alarm clocks. She made a mental note to get more, seeing as how she was down to two spares. She set it, climbed in bed, and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
  
  
Fin Chapter one  
  
How do you guys like it? I personally like it myself. I may end up adding or editing a few parts later, but this'll do for now. I apologize for the short, fluffy chapter. But it was all necessary to set up for the next chapter. Some real action will start soon enough. Until next chapter, sayonara! 


	2. A New Student

Konbanwa Minna-san! Well, here's the much-awaited chapter two! Let's see, I've kept you waiting for an excruciating 3 hours! I hope to get Ch. 4 or maybe even 5 out by the end of the weekend, but don't expect it. Now, for a short explanation: I know I made an odd scene between Li and Eriol. Don't worry, that was spur of the moment and designed simply to make Hiiragizawa look like an idiot. Nothing, and I repeat NOTHING will develop from this occurrence. That was not one of the confusing relationships that I mentioned. Second, I'm simply going to state that Thursday was a lot like Wednesday except for no exploding clocks. I'm moving on to Friday. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura was drowsily getting out of the shower after being roused by Kero. She was toweling off and selecting her clothes quickly, as she was in her eternal rush to get to school on time. "Well, at least I didn't blow up the clock today!" she congratulated herself. She's been getting better with the clock. Although, she still bought five spare ones at the store yesterday just to be safe. She ran down the stairs and ate some toast. She ran out, but stopped when she felt that something was missing. She looked at the empty chair at the table. "Oh yeah, Onii-chan isn't here to call me a kaijou. He must be helping Yukito move into his new house in Tokyo today," she said to no one in particular. She shrugged then ran out.  
  
She met up with Eriol and Tomoyo on the corner and they power-walked to school to make it on time. Syaoran joined them at the next street. They were laughing and talking to each other, even teasing each other. Until three heads snapped to the side to face just east of their current direction. All fell silent. "Something wrong?" Tomoyo asked, worried. "We sense an odd aura near the school" sakura explained to her friend. "A dark aura," Eriol added. "We'll just have to see who or what it is once we get there." Syaoran said. Sakura started running as she yelled out, "WE ONLY HAVE TWO MORE MINUTES UNTIL THE BELL!!" The rest looked at her for a moment, then started running after her.  
  
Tareda-sensei's class  
  
The four plopped down in their chairs just as the bell rang. They were all out of breath from the long run. Tareda-san just sighed and got ready to intro the new student. "Ohayo minna-san, like I said two days ago, we have a new student," he passed to make sure he had everyone's attention, "He is an American here on a new exchange program. He is taking Yamikaze's place for the rest of the year." Sakura, Tomoyo, and Chiharu drooped a bit at this. Especially Chiharu since she wouldn't have someone to hit whenever he lied. "Please enter and introduce yourself." Tareda called to a figure outside. A boy stepped in and smiled at everyone. He bowed and said, "Ohayo minna-san. My name is Rob Forrest. I'm an American, as Sensei said. Uh, I'm unsure of what else to say," he turned to Tareda," Is it alright if I allow a few questions?" "Sure, but only a few." Tareda said, eager to get on with his lesson plan. "Arigato. So, questions, comments, suggestions?" No one stood up. So he headed for Yamikaze's old seat. It was just to the left of Sakura's. "Oh, I'm sorry class. I need to make a few quick copies of today's math review. I'll be back in five minutes," Tareda said and exited. "Hi there Forrester!" Sakura greeted the new student in English. "Ohayo! Anata wa desu ka?" (That's "Good morning. What's your name?") he replied in Japanese. Sakura giggled and replied, "I'm Sakura! I'm pleased to meet you!" he said, extending a hand. Rob shook it firmly. "And these are my friends. Daidouji Tomoyo, Hiiragizawa Eriol, and Li Syaoran." She said, pointing to her friends in turn. They all greeted him and shook his hand, although Syaoran's was a bit firmer than the rest. "So, Forrester-san..." "No no no, please, call me Rob or Robbie. I don't like people to throw -san or -kun at the end of my name. I'm sorry, continue Kinomoto- san." "Well, if I have to call you rob, you have to call me Sakura." She said as Rob briefly smiled. "As I was saying, would you like to sit with us at lunch?" "If you'll have me. I wouldn't want to be a bother to any of you," he said. "Of course we'll have you! And you won't be a bother! I'm sure that we'd love to learn about you." Tomoyo squealed. Rob simply gave her an odd look and gave Eriol a questioning look. He only nodded. Tareda came back in and started his lessons. Everyone was amazed at how quickly Rob finished his work. He finished at least twenty minutes before everyone else. He borrowed Tareda-sensei's seating chart and took twenty minutes to memorize everyone's names. Li finished second and he found himself glancing at Rob every few seconds. He surmised that there must be something odd about him, but he wasn't sure what.  
  
Lunch  
  
Wind was blowing hard outside so they decided to eat in the cafe today. While they were waiting for Robbie, the gang talked about what they though of him. "He seems very smart. He's cute too." Sakura said, mumbling the last part so that only Tomoyo could hear. Just then, they saw Robbie enter. They all waved so that they knew where they were. "Hey buddy!" Someone yelled at Rob for accidentally bumping into him. Robbie bowed and apologized respectfully, then tried to move on. "Hey, you can't bump into Chong and expect to leave with just an apology! He needs some kind of monetary compensation!" someone else explained to him while blocking his path. Rob only chuckled, "Oh, and what if I refuse to comply?" "Then we'll beat the snot out of you!" a third said. Syaoran was about to get up to help him, until he saw Rob smile and chuckle at his predicament. Sakura urged him to go, but Syaoran said, "I think he can handle it." Just then, two of the three lunged at him and attacked. Rob only smirked. He performed a side-flip (sometimes called a no-hands cartwheel) kicking the one and making him fly back. He was out cold. Rob landed on the second's back. He crouched down and jumped off, sending the poor fellow to the ground HARD. He performed a few twists in the air before landing perfectly. He glared at Chong and he just ran. Robbie chuckled again and walked to his table. (This took a total of three seconds. The knockouts only took a total of one second.) "Wow! That was awesome!" Sakura squealed. Rob only nodded as he took the empty seat next to her. Everyone said how cool that was, except for Syaoran. "The acrobatics were completely unnecessary." Syaoran commented. "On the contrary, I had to do something spectacular. If they tell a teacher or administrator what happened, who would believe their story?" Rob pointed out. "That's a good point," stated Eriol before smiling his odd smile. "So, Rob, we're all going to Tomoyo's tonight. We'd like to invite you to thank you for getting us out of Math for a couple of days." He simply gave her a confused look. "Sensei opted to wait for you to get her before starting the next chapter in the book. He said that he didn't want to end up losing you because the next chapter is difficult." "Well, that is hardly my doing." Rob said while munching on a tuna fish sandwich (mmmmm!). "Maybe not, but will you come over anyway?" "Well, alright. Where is it?" "You can follow us there after school." "Nifty." (That was all Sakura and Rob) "I can't make it tonight. I have to go to a meeting with a representative of the Elders, the get up early tomorrow." Syaoran said. Sakura's mood noticeably dropped. "That's alright, we'll just have to fun without you!" Eriol said, adding "my cute little descendant" under his breath. Syaoran glared at him, then continued to eat his lunch. Everyone just sighed and finished their lunch.  
  
Road, on the way to Tomoyo's  
  
They'd all been laughing and talking. Syaoran was doing a bit of glaring, and Eriol was doing a little teasing. "So, Rob, what's up with the black robe?" Eriol inquired. Rob replied, in English, "I'm the God of Death." they both chuckled. He was right of course; it was unusual for someone to go to school wearing all black when they had a uniform. Mr. Tareda excused him since it was his first day. Once at Tomoyo's, they talked and told stories about their past. Rob met Sonomi, Tomoyo's mother as well. After a few hours, everyone started to head home (I'm sorry, but I'm horrible at dialog.) Everyone took Daidouji-san's offer of a limo home except for Rob. He decided to walk, saying that he didn't live far away. Everyone went home and thus ended a great night.  
  
Sakura's Dream  
  
She was in a large, dark room. It seemed almost as if it were a huge void. In the center of this void sat a being in a soft, golden light. She approached it carefully, not sure if disturbing it would be wise. Upon hearing her approaching footsteps, it stood up. "W-w-who are you?" Sakura stuttered. It only chuckled at her. "Who are you?" she repeated more forcefully. It pulled back the hood on its cloak, then dropped the cloak all together. It slowly turned to face her. "Who...?" she whispered as she saw the thing. It was a boy, around her age. He had long, golden hair. It was waist length and it was in a tight braid. He also had dark red eyes that had a piercing gaze. "Me?" he questioned. His voice was low, barely a whisper, but it seemed to reach every fiber of her being. She shivered as even her very soul was touched by this low, creepy voice. He then spread his large, bat- like wings. He flapped them a few times to rid them of stiffness, then folded behind his back again. "Watakushi wa Shinigami desu..." he whispered. Sakura's eyes widened as she said to herself, "The God of Death?"  
  
  
  
Fin Chapter two  
  
Well, there's a touch of action for you! Will Shinigami be the new evil that will plague Sakura? You'll just have to wait to find out!  
  
Now that all of the major players have been introduced, I can get into the real story. I promise that it will speed up soon and explain Rob's presence next chapter. 


	3. God of Death to the Rescue

I'm really cranking these out! This'll be the third chapter in 3 days! Unfortunately, I won't always update this quickly. Anywho, last chapter was quite nice, although Starrie doesn't like how I'm flirting with Sakura (I'm Shinigami-sama). Well, too bad! I'm a flirt, I can't help it!  
  
Starrie: *glares* who wouldn't like the fact that you're flirting with Sakura!! the only one who's allowed to do that is kawaii Syaoran!!!  
  
I'm sorry, that's my friend Starrie, she'll pop in from time to time to annoy me.  
  
Starrie: *pinches him* hey...I'M annoying??? *glares at him some more and then turns to readers and smiles sweetly*  
  
Are you going to let me start the story sometime today?  
  
Starrie: *ignores him* konnichiwa everyone! for those of you who know who I am, hizies!! and for those who don't...err...hizies!! *sweatdrop*  
  
*pushes her off a cliff* don't worry, she has wings. I just need to start the story.  
  
Starrie: *pops back up, flying in the air* well, like HE *glares* said, on with the story!!! *pushes him into the nearest lake and flies away as fast as she can*  
  
*mumbles* I'm a god for cryin' out loud, I shouldn't have to deal this...  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura woke with a start, with sweat beading on her forhead. That was an odd dream. She hoped that it didn't mean that she would die soon. Kero flew to her mistress.  
"Sakura! I sense an evil power in Penguin park! Syaoran and Eriol are already on their way!" he told her.  
She concentrated and confirmed Kero's information by sensing their auras. "Let's go!" she said as she grabbed her book and ran out the door, after slipping on one of Tomoyo's old battle suits. She hurried to the park.  
  
She got there to see Syaoran and Eriol with their weapons already released. Then she saw what looked like a demon hovering above the park, apparently quite evil. She released her staff and stood next to her friends.  
  
"Ha ha ha! What a nice line of children for me to destroy," the demon mocked.  
"You won't destroy us because you're going down!" Li yelled. "Element Fire! Come to my aid!" a large mass of fire surged at the beast, but it nimbly dodged it and laughed at them.  
"Earthy! Cage that demon, release and dispel!" the ground shook as five pillers erupted from the ground and encased the demon.  
"Element lightning!" a bolt of lightning ripped through the cage, but the demon broke free and cackled evilly at him.  
"You think those sideshow tricks will stop me! Ha!" the beast jeered. (the demon is the beast for the slow folk)  
What the four didn't know is that a boy was watching them, his interest growing. He then decided that he'd witnessed enough and planned to intervene.  
  
"You'll need a god to defeat me!" the demon laughed again. Over the last ten minutes, she had beaten the three warriors up. Eriol was using healing spells to keep them all going, but it looked like their efforts might not be enough. "And are any of you gods?"  
"I am," a low voice said. The voice was very soft, barely inaudible, but it had an effect on everyone there. It seemed to penetrate every pore, every fiber of their being. It even made their souls shiver.  
"Who said that!?" the demon yelled angrily.  
A figure stepped from the shadows and what a figure he was. His stature was that of a boy. He was about 5' 10", 150 pounds, but those weren't his notable features. His eyes glowed a deep, dark red; his hair was in a long braid and seemes as if it were made from pale gold. On his back were a set of massive bat wings. He even flapped them powerfully a few times as he glared at the beast. Even this demon was taken aback by his appearance, but quickly regained its composure.  
"Who are you?"  
The figure continued to glare unblinkingly.  
"Who are you!?" it asked again, more forcefully.  
Still glaring.  
"WHO ARE YOU!?!?!?!" the demon screamed becoming increasingly angry.  
"Watakushi wa Shinigami desu, I am the God of Death." This new being whispered, but was heard by all. Sakura was especially wide-eyed at this statement.  
"I dreamed about him..." she whispered to herself. Everyone was too shocked to take notice of her mumbling.  
"HAHAHAHAHA! The God of Death? Right! Show me what you got Shinigami-sama!" the demon taunted.  
The God simply reached behind his back and removed his weapon. It appeared to be like a half-chakram (that would be half of a sharpened ring). It had a handle about two feet long and at the top a blade was attached. This blade made a shallow arc for the entire width of the handle, the tip ending at the very bottem of the handle. He fingered an unseen control and the blade let out slightly before the handle extended to a full six feet long. He tapped the bottem on the ground and the blade became two as it swung into an upright postion. He was now holding a very impressive looking scythe. It had a black handle and the blades glowed an eerie blood-red.  
The demon gulped, then with a confidence it really didn't feel, it taunted him again. "Whatcha got there Farmer John?"  
"In a move that no one but Sakura saw, Shinigami charge forward and plunged his blade deep into the gut of the monster. Its face twisted in pain and agony while the God twisted the blade a bit. He extracted the blade and it now had a dark, writhing energy on it. It was the demon's black soul. The demon watched in horror as Shinigami sent a blast of energy through the soul, destroying it. The demon made one final scream before disintegrating.  
Everyone was watching with morbid fascination as they saw this exchange. They couldn't believe what had just happened, except for Sakura, that is. She had sensed his dark aura in her dream. She had been hoping that it wasn't prophetic, but she now realized that she would be meeting this God in a more personal setting in the future. She wasn't very keen on the idea.  
Shinigami simply gripped the scythe as it returned to its compact form. He then put the scythe away and turned toward the gang, namely Sakura. He slowly walked toward the girl. Syaoran tried to run and block him, but he suddenly found himself completely unable to move. Eriol was in a similar situation.  
The god stopped in front of the girl, bent over and whispered in her ear, "we shall meet again, Sakura-sama." For some reason, the voice seemed warmer than before, almost kind, but she still shuddered. The god turned around and took flight, disappearing into the shadows of pre-dawn. Only then were the two boys released.  
"What did he tell you?" Syairan asked, concerned.  
"H-h-he told me t-t-that we'd meet a-again," she stuttered out before collapsing. Eriol nodded to Syaoran and the auburn-haired boy picked up the sleeping girl and took her home.  
  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura was now safely in her bed. She slept normally for a while, but soon became fitful as another dream invaded her mind.  
  
  
Sakura's Dream  
  
She awoke to the sound of rustling. Having her own set of temporary wings, she knew the sound quite well. She walked to the window and opened it, seeing a figure start to fly away.  
"Yue!" she yelled. That was the only person she knew who had a pair of white, feathered wings.  
The figure turned, almost startled. She took a look at his face. The only feature she could distinguish was a pair of green eyes staring back at her.  
"Green....?"  
  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
"Sakura! Wake up! Yoohoo! I'm hungry so wake up!"  
"Alright Kero, I'm up" the hungry guardian's mistress said drowsily. "I'll start some breakfast in a few minutes."  
"You'd better start on lunch too!"  
"Nani?"  
"Sakura, it's past noon, you've been sleeping ever since the gaki brought you home." He then added under his breath, "and I've been going hungry..."  
"Kero, I've been having some really odd dreams lately."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. In fact, I dreamt about Shinigami the night before he showed up."  
"This could be bad..."  
  
  
Tomoyo's House  
  
Sakura has told Tomoyo about the dreams. Tomoyo agreed with Kero that she needs to keep an eye out. Tomoyo also yelled at them for not calling her so that she could tape her kawaii Sakura. Kero and Sakura (yep, you guessed it!) sweatdropped.  
  
"Oh yeah, I also invited Robbie over for lunch, and dinner if he isn't busy." Tomoyo giggled. She and Sakura had already made plans to have lunch and dinner together that night.  
"I thought we had plans." Sakura said, somewhat confused.  
"We do, I'm just including Rob now." She giggled again.  
"Uh, ok." Sakura didn't quite understand why Tomoyo was being so giggly today, but dismissed it.  
Tomoyo saw the way that Rob looked at Sakura. She suspected that he may even have a crush on her. Syaoran had been acting really odd lately. (ain't that the truth) Tomoyo was worried that he may drift away from Sakura, so she was implementing a few contigency plans (is it just me, or does Tomoyo sound military right now?) just in case.  
"He can also judge some of my new dresses for you Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo's eyes went starry just from thinking about kawaii Sakura in her kawaii dresses. Sakura sweatdropped.  
"Sometimes you scare me Tomoyo." Sakura commented while her eyes still had stars in them.  
  
"Ding Dong..." The doorbell rang. "Ding dong..." it rang again. "Ding ding ding, ding ding din din ding ding ding ding ding ding. Ding dong, ding ding..."  
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" A very angry servant yelled at the person at the door.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just noticed that the doorbell had perfect pitch and uh...." the boy tried to explain.  
Calming down considerably, the servant continued, "Do you have business here, sir?" The last formality had an edge to it. The boy just ignored it.  
"Yes, I'm here to see Ms. Daidouji and Ms. Kinomoto."  
"And your name, sir?"  
"I'm Robbie, Robbie Foster."  
"Yes, I was told that you would stop by. Do you have any proof of your identity?"  
"Yes, and there they are. Hey Tomoyo! Hi Sakura!"  
"Huh? What?" The servant said as he turned around to face his employer's daughter and her best friend.  
"Oh, high Rob!" Sakura called.  
"John, have you been giving my buddy trouble?" Tomoyo asked the servant.  
"Uh, um, yes, I mean no, uh, er..." John stuttered.  
"Oh no, of course not Tomoyo. We were just talking about how cool your doorbell is." Rob answered, giving John a look that said, "you owe me."  
"Ok then! Rob, we've set up something special for you upstairs!" Tomoyo said, dashing up the stairs.  
"Should I be worried?" he asked Sakura.  
"Worried? No. Be afraid, be VERY afraid." she informed him.  
"Don't worry I am." He held out his palm to show her that it was quivering. They both laughed and headed for Tomoyo's room upstairs.  
  
"Nifty! I didn't know that I'd get a fashion show!" Rob said as Sakura came out in her second outfit. This was an evening gown made of fine, pink silk with white trim. it have a plunging back and a high leg slit with cherry blossems embroidered along the seams. It gave her a classy, yet sexy look.  
  
The next dress was a short black number that was VERY form-fitting. Rob couldn't help but drool a little bit, though he kept it hidden. Well, at least it was hidden from Sakura. Tomoyo noticed it and she confirmed her hunch that he had a crush on her. A normal guy wouldn't have had the presence of mind to hide the drool. This dress had a short skirt with a slit, but had a panty-lining to keep it from riding up too far. There was also sheer mesh halfway down her back. As Sakura went into the closet to try on another dress, she left the door open. She bent over to grab another dress, giving Rob a nice view, before he kicked the door closed.  
"Dang she's hot," Rob mumbled to himself, forgetting that Tomoyo was in the room.  
"Yep, she sure is. I think she likes you, too." Tomoyo giggled out the last part.  
Snapping out of his trance, he blushed at her comment. "Itai...." he heard a muffled cry then a thud. "I'm alright!" he heard right afterward.  
"Well, I said she was hot, not graceful." Tomoyo nodded sadly. "So, if I'm not insulting you by asking, how many more do we have to go through?" Not that he was bored or in a hurry, he was just worried that a few more sexy dresses like that and he wouldn't be able to stop from jumping on her. (No, I did not mean that in a purely sexual manner, he's too sweet and pure to even think about it that way.)  
"There's only ten more," he started to worry about containing himself, "but only three of them are that sexy." He let out a sigh of relief. He might be able to keep his honor and dignity after all.  
  
Just then Sakura came out wearing a beautiful pink three-piece suit. It looked all business-like but it accented her cute-ness. (I must like hyphens a lot.) Tomoyo had done a great job with this one. Sakura dropped the jacket to reveal that the blouse had no sleeves. It was a modern, yet classic. All-in-all it was quite nice.  
Just before Sakura went in to change, after several of Rob's compliments, Tomoyo whispered something to her. Sakura giggled and went to change. Rob gave Tomoyo a quizzical glance, but she only giggled.  
Seven more dresses were showcased. There was a nice summer dress with cherry blossems. There were two battle gis, which almost surprised Rob. There were another two evening gowns which were stunning. One was in dark red while the other was a very pale pink with red accents. The next two required about 20 minutes to get ready with Tomoyo's help. Sakura walked out in a traditional Geisha outfit, make-up and even a nice wig. Sakura walked in quietlyand bowed on her knees to Rob. He was stunned, but he knew that she was simply acting like a traditional Geisha, which acted subserviant for their employers. She showed a red and a dark green kimono.  
"Now here comes the part that you'll hate me for," Tomoyo said in a cryptic manner. Rob gave her an odd look, but Tomoyo only motioned toward the closet door. Rob braced himself and waited.  
  
Sakura stepped from the closet looking absolutely stunning, and sexy. She was wearing a black leather corset top with matching velvet choker. She also had on a short mini-skirt and knee length boots. A pair of fishnet stockings covered her legs and behind her was a flowing black cape with a dark pink inner lining. Rob wasn't entirely sure what to think of this one until Sakura smiled, showing her fangs. His expression of shock disappeared as he realized that she was a hot vampire.  
Sakura slowly swished up to Rob and leaned down on him, smiling with her blood-red lips and pale skin. "You like?" she asked innocently.  
"Let's just say that I want to be bitten," he grabbed her belt and pulled her closer and whispered, "you want a taste?"  
She drew back and smiled at him evilly. She leaned in close to his and let her fangs drag lightly over his neck. She let her warm breath caress his skin before disappearing into the closet again.  
Tomoyo was in a state of shock, as was Rob. "She has NEVER done anything remotely that forward or sexual!" Tomoyo explained.  
"She was playing a part, I guess," he then looked to her and smiled," and what were you thinking when you designed that outfit?"  
Tomoyo blushed noticably. "I told her to save those for last and then to tease you a little, but I never expected that."  
"I can't wait to see the next two..." he stated as he heard the door knob turn.  
  
Now here was a radical change. She walked out wearing a pure white dress. It wasn't special, but that was what made it great. It's simplicity and the way it hugged her curves made it sexy. In fact, it covered up more skin than the clothes she was wearing when he first got there. The dress was accented with pale pink trim and white stockings and shoes. She politely curtsied to Rob, then twirled for him. He was impressed. He complimented her as she went back in.  
"Now for the grand finale!" Tomoyo squealed. Robbie took a deep breath and waited for what would come through that door. He was a little puzzled when Tomoyo dimmed the lights and put on slow music.  
Sakura stepped out and she was breath taking. She wore a long, dark pink dress with a high leg slit and another plunging back. It was also sleeveless, but she wore elbow-length matching gloves. She had on a wig (she only had 10 minutes to change, what did you expect?) done in a simple, but sexy style. The dress also hugged her curves and made a soft swishing sound. Her high heels clicked as she approached.  
  
She curtsied and held out a hand. Rob quickly stood then, taking her hand, he kissed it lightly while he bowed. They hadn't noticed that Tomoyo had broken out the tripod and that she's been taping the whole thing.  
"Would milady be kind enough to grant me the honor of a dance?" Rob asked politely.  
"Surely, kind sir. I would be grateful to dance with thee." He stood and led her to the center of the large room. Once there, he held her around her waist as she put her arms around his neck. They danced slowly in time to the music, holding each other tightly.  
"I think this'll make a great home movie," he chuckled, "or at least your friend thinks so."  
She sighed, "that's classic Tomoyo for you but," she gazed up at him, "let's forget that the camera or Tomoyo are here."  
He smiled and drew her closer. "Sure thing..." She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She felt content there, in his arms. She said that this was wrong, that she was only supposed to feel this way with Syaoran, but she couldn't help it. Syaoran has also been acting strangely ever since he came back. She looked up when she heard him take off his glasses (oops, I forgot to mention that he wears classes).  
He took off his glasses and placed them in his pocket. He figured that he really didn't need to see as long as he felt this angel in his arms. He felt her turn to look at him, and looked down to meet her gaze. Her's was a face of contentment, then a flash of surprise before becoming content again. She set her back on his chest before shaking her head to clear a thought. He just held her closer, not understanding what had happened. He only heard her say to herself, "green...?"  
  
  
Fin Chapter Three  
  
What the frell is going on? Aren't Sakura and Syaoran supposed to be together? Who do I think I am? hehe! Well, the plots thickens, ne? Well, we'll just have to see where all of this goes. Don't worry, Sakura won't completely fall for Rob anytime soon. Maybe she won't at all. Maybe I'm rambling now? I can say for certain that only that last one is true. I am rambling. Oh, and you'll notice the absense of Starrie. She had problems with her internet connection, so I was forced to post this tonight without her. Oh well, she'll get over it, or not let me touch her for a week, one of the two. Oh well, bye! 


	4. Let's play Dress up!

Well, here's chapter four! Well, let's see. Some odd things have happened. As you can see, Sakura isn't as sweet and innocent as she used to be.  
Starrie: *crosses her arms stubbornly* you're making her out of character!!! *sob*  
Rob: *holds her* I'm sorry, but this is my vision.  
Starrie: *glares* fine....but you better put some S+S moments in your fic soon!!! *winks at readers as if saying, i've got this all under control*  
Rob: Yep, there'll definately be a S+S moment *laughs in a cryptic manner*  
Starrie: *sighs* well....I tried. anywayz, *smiles at readers* on with the fic everyone!! don't forget to give this poor unfortunate soul some feedback!!  
  
  
Chapter four  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura had slept rather soundly for once. She felt at peace, calm. She remembered the past day's events and felt warm all over. She thought that perhaps he was the one that was meant for her, not Syaoran. Then she realized that if they were together, that she'd be living a lie, not letting him know who she really was. Besides, fate had destined Sakura and Syaoran to be together. Before she could deal with any of that though, she had to get to school on time!  
  
"BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP" the alarm clock rang loudly, disturbing the image of beauty that lay in the bed close by. Suddenly, a pink staff swung from the bed and smashed the alarm to pieces, alarming a yellow, winged guardian.  
  
"Well, at least she didn't blow it up. I hate it when I wake up to the sound of exploding alarm clocks!" Kero shuddered as he recalled the last time an explosion woke him up. He had jumped straight up, not realizing that his drawer was closed. Then, he had so much momentum that he bounced off the top, then bounced of the bottem, than hit the top again. This left a very dazed Kero, but I digress.  
  
Suddenly Sakura sat bolt upright and looked at a surprised Kero. "I'm gonna be late!" She jumped out of bed and ran for the shower, grabbing a uniform that was folded neatly on a chair on the way. She emerged five minutes later fully dressed and clean. (I wish I were that fast. I take over 20 minutes to get ready in the morning.)  
  
"Bye Kero!" she called she ran out the door.  
  
Touya noticed a blur on the other side of the table, then noticed Sakura's empty plate. "She's got to be a kaijou..." he muttered after the wind of her wake hit him.  
  
  
Road, on the way to school  
  
Tomoyo and Sakura were on their way to school and talking about the previous day's occurances. Tomoyo kept asking questions about how she felt about Rob. Sakura kept on blushing.  
  
"I cannot believe that you teased him with your fangs!" Tomoyo squealed.  
"You think I can?" Sakura asked.  
"I think you like him!"  
"I might like him, but I love Syaoran."  
"Speaking of Li-kun, he's been acting oddly lately, ne?" (for the slow folks, "ne" is something you attach to the end of sentence when you expect agreement)  
"Yeah, I noticed. I'm a little worried about him. He seems so impulsive now."  
"True. Hey, I wonder what he would do if I showed him the tape of you two."  
"If I were Li and you were Rob," Sakura turns toward Tomoyo, takes Li's battle stance, and acts like she's using his sword,"Element, Thunder! And Fire! And Wind! And Water, too!"  
Tomoyo giggled a bit. "So, you think he'll be alright with it?"  
"Exactly," she rolled her eyes at her and chuckled.  
  
Suddenly, the two girls felt hands and weight being put on their shoulders. "Hi ladies!" They both jumped and Sakura grabbed the arm and twisted it around behind the person who grabbed them.  
"Ow! Jeez Sakura! Hmmm, have you been working out?" Rob said with an edge of pain in his voice.  
Sakura sighed and turned him loose. Tomoyo was recovering from her mini-heart attack. "Don't EVER do that again!" Tomoyo almost yelled a him.  
"Ok ok, next time I'll give you some warning" Rob assured.  
"You're lucky that I didn't break your arm!" Sakura was a tad angry, though mostly because she didn't sense his approach.  
"I wouldn't have let you break my arm" Rob informed.  
"My, aren't we arrogant?" Tomoyo chided.  
"Hey! Some say that it adds to my charm" Rob told them.  
"Sure...." Sakura's sarcasm was thicker than mollasses in February.  
"Where's Li and the friend he loves so much?" Rob inquired. (I'm runnin' out of synonyms! Ahh!)  
Sakura chuckled softly, "Oh, I'm not sure, I think Syaoran must be doing something with the elders."  
"What Elders? That's the second time that I've heard them mentioned." Rob queried.  
Sakura chided herself for letting it slip, "You promise not to tell anyone?"  
"On my honor."  
"Well, you see, he's part of a Chinese clan. The Li clan, to be exact."  
"Oh, I was wondering why his name sounded familiar. So he's a descendant of the great Clow Reed, eh?"  
Sakura's eyes widened at the mention of Clow's name. "You know Clow-sama?"  
"I know OF him. I'm quite interested in the magical arts as well as the martial arts. I find the complexity of Eastern magic to be fascinating. I've even studied it to a certain extent."  
Sakura took note of this and reminded herself to be very careful with her magic around him. He may even have the ability to sense her aura if she weren't careful. She would also have to tell Eriol and Li about this.  
  
Sakura walked the rest of the way in silence. Tomoyo and Rob took up most of the conversation at this point. Rob then made the mistake of asking her about her clothing designs.  
  
"So, what other clothes do you design, besides Sakura's dresses... and costumes?" Rob smiled after saying that last part.  
Tomoyo replied, with stars in her eyes, "No! I design all sorts of clothes! Dresses, suits, casual wear, bathing suits, even battle costumes for Syaoran and Sakura!"  
Rob chuckled at her response. "Wow, you must have some great skill."  
"Hey, do you want me to make YOU some kawaii clothing or a battle costume?" The stars in her eyes got bigger and brighter.  
"Uh, well, I wouldn't want to impose..."  
"You wouldn't be imposing! I'd be glad to do it. I haven't done men's clothing in a while."  
"Perhaps I could come over sometime and give you a few pointers..."  
"POINTERS?!" Tomoyo cut him off, obviously offended, "What pointers could YOU possibly give ME?"  
"Whoa whoa! Calm down! I meant that I have a certain image and look I like to acheive with a battle suit. That's what I would like to have first. Is that alright?"  
Tomoyo calmed down. "I'm sorry, I'm just a bit sure of my skills."  
"No, I should have realized that I'd be insulting the master," he puts and arm on her shoulder, "forgive me?"  
Tomoyo chuckled uncertainly, "Are you serious?"  
"Yes, quite serious."  
"Well, uh, sure I forgive you."  
"Thanks." He patted her on the back then returned his arms to his sides. "So when do you wan't me over?"  
"How about after school?"  
"I'll be there!"  
Sakura smiled to herself over the whole exchange. He was so sweet, and quick to apologize when he's at fault. It really surprised her how warmly he'd dealt with Tomoyo's temper. He's much nicer and warmer than Syaor... NO! She can't be thinking about him that way. She loves Syaoran, not him. They all continued to school.  
  
  
School  
  
Sakura and the gang were in English class with Ms. Mei, a new teacher. She was trying to teach the class about prepositions, but only Eriol and Rob understood. Eriol and Li had come to class about half an hour late and told Sakura and Tomoyo that they would explain later. Rob was trying desparately to help Mei teach, but English is a bit too difficult to expect someone to get prepositions in one class period. (I, by the way, have impeccable language skills.)  
  
"This why I used to talk to myself..." Rob muttered to Sakura when he passed by. Sakura cracked a smile, but suppressed the giggle.  
  
"Oh, Sakura! I have some great news." Li said to Sakura.  
"Oh, what's that?" Sakura asked, her attention finally focused on something.  
"I told Meiling about how that Rob guy beat up those jerks, so she's coming down this weekend to challenge him to a fight and stay for the holidays."  
Sakura brightened immediately. "Meiling's coming!? Yay!" Sakura was practically squealling with joy. Robbie winced from across the room.  
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, walking over to him.  
"Oh, don't worry about it. My right ear is just hypersensitive. It only bothers me when I'm surprised, so don't worry about it."  
"I feel bad now."  
"Well, you were obviously happy when you squealed, so what happened?"  
"OH! I'm so happy! My friend Meiling is coming back from Chinese!"  
"Meiling from China? How many Chinese friends do you have?" he kidded.  
Sakura chuckled, "She's also Syaoran's second-cousin. She showed up shortly after he did six years ago."  
"Ah, gotcha. Second question, why does Li always glare at me when I make you laugh or touch you?"  
Sakura blushed slightly and Syaoran's glare increased in response. "Oh, uh, you see, before he went back to China, we got really close. You could say that we're together, though unofficially."  
"Well, that proves that he's an idiot" Rob said after a moment's thought.  
"Hoe?" (You need help if you don't know who said that)  
"Well, if he was smart, he would have never left such a beautiful girl behind. He must be incredibly stupid if he left you here for six years before coming back." Rob's reasoning surprised Sakura.  
"He didn't have a choice. He was ordered to return by the Elders."  
"Then he's also a coward, afraid to go against the wishes of another, even if it means that he gives up the right to lead the Li clan." Someone called him over and he had to move away without waiting for a reply. Sakura was shocked by this line of reasoning. The last things that she'd call Syaoran were stupid and cowardly. She brushed off the comments, thinking that he was wrong, but the feeling that he could be right lingered on.  
  
  
Lunch, my favorite time of the school day  
  
Sakura, Rob, Li, Eriol, and Tomoyo were outside eating. It was a bit chilly, but it was warm enough to get by without becoming CCSicles. All started eating except for Rob.  
  
"Not eating?" Tomoyo asked.  
"No, I hate school lunches. I also happened to forget to pack one today." Rob explained as he sweatdropped.  
"Here, you can have this." Tomoyo handed him a piece of cake. Rob tryed to refuse it, but he failed.  
"You can have this too." Sakura offered him an extra container of soup that she had. Eriol also offered him some food. Rob tried to be a gentleman and refuse, but his stomach was qute convincing. He felt warm inside. He actually had friends that cared for him. It had been a great while since that had been true.  
He thanked them thoroughly and noticing that he'd finished about 15 minutes early, he decided to go for a walk around the school. He asked to see if anyone would accompany him and Sakura perked up, having finished her lunch as well. Syaoran also wanted to come, though only after seeing Sakura get up to follow Rob.  
  
  
Somewhere around the school  
  
Syaoran had put his arm around Sakura after seeing her shiver. She held him back and Rob smiled at the sight. He figured that it really didn't matter if he had Sakura or not, as long as she was happy. He sensed that they should be alone so, while they were preoccupied with each other, he slipped away without being noticed.  
  
(Note that only Syaoran and Sakura in this scene, so I won't bother to distinguish who says what unless I feel that it is somewhat unclear.)  
"Sakura, I'm sorry that I've been acting so strangely lately."  
"It's alright Syaoran, I'm sure that you're just under pressure or you've just changed since you left. I know I have."  
"There's something that I have to tell you Sakura."  
"Oh?"  
"I'm not just here to see you. The Elders sent me here because they sensed that two dark energies had been building here."  
"Two? I only sensed the one last Friday."  
"I know, I haven't sensed the other aura either, but I trust the Elders' decision."  
"So, does that mean that you'll leave me again once we've taken care of it?"  
"Of course not. I'll be here as long as you want me here. I've done everything and made all of the arrangements to stay here indefinately, just to stay with you."  
"Oh, relly?"  
"I don't want you to feel pressured, though. I've also made plans on the possibility that I may have changed too much and you no longer love me."  
Sakura stopped and turned Syaoran to face her, "Syaoran, I will never stop loving you. Got that?"  
"Yes ma'am." They both chuckled at her sudden assertiveness.  
"Bell's going to ring in about five minutes," said Syaoran, glancing at his watch.  
"We should head back then."  
They began to walk back, arm in arm. Just before they reentered the building, they held each other in a warm embrace, Sakura holding him under his jacket. They walked in holding hands and feeling warm toward each other.  
  
  
Inside the school  
  
Sakura had just taken her seat next to Tomoyo. Tomoyo had seen them holding hands as they walked in and felt happy, but concerned. Sakura definately liked Rob, but she loves Syaoran. One of them is going to get hurt, and Sakura will probably be hurt no matter what.  
  
"Have fun?" Tomoyo asked her friend.  
"Yeah, Syaoran and I are good now. I think that everything will turn out just right." Sakura leaned back and let out a content sigh.  
"I certainly hope so."  
  
  
Tomoyo's House  
  
Tomoyo and Rob have been working diligently on his new Battle suit. Tomoyo told him that it would be ready by Thursday and that he could model it the following Friday, during a get-together. Rob dumbly agreed, having no idea what was in store for him.  
  
"Tomoyo, I'm all measured out!"  
"For it to look right, it has to be a bit form-fitting, now stop moving!"  
"Alright, what are you going to measure next?"  
"Uh, well, the distance from your belly button to the bottem of your back."  
"Why so hesitant about that? It's no problem."  
"Then spread your legs."  
It finally hit Rob, "Oh, you mean THAT way between the two. Uh, well, just make it quick."  
She quickly measured without incident.  
"So, you like Sakura, don't you?"  
Rob was taken aback by the sudden question. "Sure I do, she's charming, nice, and kawaii."  
"No, I mean you reallllly like her."  
"Oh, uh, well, I like her enough to want her to be happy. It seems like Li makes her happy, so I'm content to let them be together."  
This was somewhat of a surprise to Tomoyo, she thought that he'd be a typical guy and be willing to fight to have her. She saw that there was something more to him, but pushed the thought away for the time being. (I promise that I'll stop making people sing my praises soon, really.)  
  
She contiued to measure for a few minutes, then showed him the design that she'd sketched out for his battle costume. It was a black robe with a cloak that hung down to his ankles and had a large hood that he could use to completely conceal his face and give an eerie impression. The cloak was designed so that it could be quickly removed if needed. The outfit was loose at most of the joints, but tightened at the forearms and calves. This would allow him to move freely without worrying about hanging sleeves or pantlegs from getting caught. She was also planning an undershirt or vest to offer further protection. She had even special-ordered a bolt of Kevlar (that's a super dense material designed to stop bullets). An decently sharp sword would be able to get through it, but no normal arrow or bullet could. She had also designed a set of matching bands that could hold training weights, but those would be a surprise for him. All of the clothing would be black with dark green trim, the color scheme that he'd asked for.  
  
"So, would you like a symbol or maybe some writing on the outfit?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Hmmm, now that I think about it, yes."  
"Oh, what would you like? 'Integrity', 'trust', 'power'?"  
"Well, there is a specific nickname that I picked up back in the 'States with some Asian friends."  
"And that would be..."  
"Shinigami, the Shinto God of Death." (Remember, Sakura and Li didn't tell her much about the fight and she wasn't there)  
"How did you pick up that nickname?"  
"Oh, I used to wear black a lot, and I used to dress up as a character from Gundam Wing, an anime. I dressed up as Duo Maxwell on occasion, who also called himself the God of Death, Shinigami. Then I got good in the martial arts and I used the title as an intimidation technique. The name just sort of stuck."  
"Oh, so it's a name you used to fight under. Cool."  
"Thanks, most people just give me odd looks when I tell them my nickname. Oh, I also want to surprise the guys with it later, so can you make so that I can hide the mark until I want to show it to them?"  
Tomoyo didn't understand why he wanted to hide it, but she complied telling him that she could sew a patch over it and use a wide stich so that he could undo it with a sword if need be.  
  
He thanked her thoroughly for the time and effort that she put into the costume. She told him that it was her pleasure and bid him goodbye as he left. Rob left and started home. About thirty seconds after the door shut, Tomoyo ran outside to give him a book that he left. She ran out twice as far as he could have gon walking, but did not find him. She shrugged it off and went back inside, hoping that he didn't have homework out of that book.  
  
She went to her room and pulled out her secret tape collection. She felt like watching a few videos of Sakura from the old days. She watched the odd Silent capture, the Final Judgement, and a few transformations, then decided to watch the tape of Sakura and Robbie that she'd made. She giggled at the footage she took after he left.  
  
Sakura was giggling all over herself at Tomoyo's expression after recalling the vampire incident. Tomoyo also made a comment about it didn't look right for him to be wearing street clothes while she was in a beautiful dress. Sakura offhandedly mentioned that she should make him a nice tuxedo or matching suit. Tomoyo hadn't said much about it at the time. She turned the TV off, placed the tape back into the drawer, then headed to the closet. Once there, she found the tuxedo that she'd been making for Rob. It even matched Sakura's dress, which she modified to also incorporate Rob's favorite color scheme. She sighed and decided to take a nap.  
  
  
Hiigirazawa Houshold, Japan  
  
Sakura was telling Eriol and Syaoran about how Rob had mentioned his interest in Eastern magic. She also told them that he knew about the Li Clan and Clow Reed. The boys were surprised that an American would know about Clow. Sakura told them that she didn't know if he knew about the cards, but she suspected that he did.  
  
"We need to watch him, make sure that he doesn't find out anything about us" Eriol spoke softly.  
"I wouldn't mind beating him up if he did find out, to keep him quiet," he saw the glare that Sakura was giving him, "or I could try to convince him that he imagined the whole thing."  
"Well, Rob is the least of our worries, tell Eriol about why you're here, Syaoran." Sakura told Syaoran. (duh)  
"Yes, I was sent here because the Elders sensed two dark auras enter the area."  
"And they sent you to save us all. How brave of you, my cute little descendant." Eriol smiled his odd smile, invoking a glare from Syaoran.  
"It's been SIX years! Would you please stop calling me that!?"  
"In a word, no. I might stop once you mature enough..."  
Syaoran lunged at him, but Sakura barely managed to grab him in mid-air.  
"Stop it you two! We have more important things to worry about than your stupid feud!" Both men stared at her sudden snappish statement.  
"Sorry Sakura" Li apologized, but continued to glare at Eriol, who kept smiling at him.  
"You two will never change..." Sakured sighed out.  
  
  
Eriol's Kitchen  
  
"Hey Suppi, you guys got any puddin'?"  
"First, it's pudding. Second, no. Third, even if we had some, I wouldn't let you eat it all." Suppi glanced up from his book to smile at the small, angry guardian.  
"Fine, then I'll have to eat everything else!"  
"Here, try this" Suppi handed Kero a small jar of red liquid.  
Being to hungry to check the label, Kero guzzled it down quickly.  
  
  
Nakuru's Room  
  
Nakuru is listening to her latest rock/pop CD and is dancing to her self in her room. She's even singing to herself.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I know it!" she says to herself as she shakes her booty. She pulls off her headphones and decides to head down for a snack. She started to head for the kitchen.  
  
  
Living Room  
  
Sakura, Eriol, and Li were still talking about Robbie, dark auras, and which restaurant had the best take out. Then, they heard a sequence of noises.  
  
"AHHHHHH! IT'S HOT!!!! I NEED WATER NOW!"  
"Ah! What? ITAIIII!"  
Crash! CLANG! BANG BANG.  
The sound of glass shattering was also heard as Nukuru burst through the door with a small fire on her head, followed by a fire-spewing Kero. Suppi-chan followed laughing at him.  
"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" both Nakuru and Kero screamed. Sakura quickly pulled out the watery card. Li pulled out the proper ofuda (the paper thingy that he uses to release elements). They both drenched one of the guardians. Li got Kero while Sakura soaked Nakuru. Eriol just chuckled over the whole scene.  
  
Kero and Nakuru were both on the floor, soaked. Nakuru glad that she still had hair, Kero glad that he still had a stomach. Kero rose from the ground and flew back to the kitchen and Nakuru stared at him.  
"I'm still hungry." he explained. Nakuru just sweatdropped and got up. She grabbed a towel from a nearby bathroom and began to towel herself off.  
"Oh, uh, HI!" Nakuru said to them.  
"Hi Nakuru." they all replied in unison.  
"Hey Sakura, where's your brother?"  
"With Yukito" they answered, again in unison.  
"Are you guys trying to freak me out?"  
"No, why would you think that?" they all answered in unison, again.  
"uh, ok, bye!" Nakuru ran from the room genuinely creeped out by their behavior.  
"Eh.." they all shugged and said in unison again before continuing their previous conversation.  
  
  
Kinomoto Household, Midnight  
  
She awoke to the sound of rustling. Having her own set of temporary wings, she knew the sound quite well. She walked to the window and opened it, seeing a figure start to fly away.  
"Yue!" she yelled. That was the only person she knew who had a pair of white, feathered wings.  
The figure turned, almost startled. She took a look at his face. The only feature she could distinguish was a pair of green eyes staring back at her.  
"Green....?"  
  
  
  
Fin Chapter Four  
  
Well well well. We have some déjà vu going on. Wasn't that in Sakura's dream in the last chapter? I must be running out of ideas or something. Anywho, I hope you like it! I may also have an update tomorrow, but that's iffy at this point.  
  
Oh, I think this story is running a bit long and boring, so I'm thinking of jumping directly to Christmas Vacation. Who agrees that I should? Remember that otherwise, it may be another ten chapters before I get there, and Meiling isn't going to be there until there. My grand finale includes Meiling so.... you get the idea. Review and tell me what you think! 


	5. Romance in the Sky

I've been advised to try and jump a few days in one Chapter to move the story along a bit, and I've changed a few of my plans so forgive me if I contradict certain previous mentionings in this chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Rob and Shinigami. They are mine. Everything else belongs to someone else.  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Kinomoto Household, 12:01 AM  
  
Sakura got up and went to the window after hearing a pair of wings flap nearby. She saw that her guardian was fast asleep, so she assumed that Yue was flying by. He rarely transformed and wouldn't fly around without her unless it was important, so Sakura decided to check it out. She gazed at the figure and yelled out to him, "Yue!" The figure turned around and flashed its green eyes. "Green...? But Yue has blue eyes." She called the fly card and took flight after him.  
  
She chased him out of town and found herself above a grove of trees. She found the figure that she'd been following hovering in midair. She cautiously approached it. She was tired and she'd taken her contacts out, so her vision was less then perfect.  
"Hello?" she called to him.  
"Yes?" he answered. His voice sounded familiar but she was too tired to place it.  
"Who are you?"  
"Well, Sakura, you'll have to catch me to find out" he ducked to the right and began to speed away. Sakura hated such cryptic answers and took off after him.  
"Too slow Card Mistress!"  
"I'm gonna get you!"  
She accelerated and made a grab for his ankle, but he folded his wings and dropped out of range just in time. He took off again in a different direction and regained his altitude.  
"Come back here, whoever you are!"  
He only chuckled at her and continued to fly on.  
"Stop!"  
He disappeared into the thick trees and hid his aura from Sakura. She just hovered and tried to find him. She wished that she had the Move card. She might be able to use it to bring him here without having to chase him anymore.  
  
She had been hovering for about five minutes without feeling his aura anywhere. Her wings were a bit tired from just sitting in midair, so she descended to one of the trees below. She didn't notice a figure creep up behind her.  
"Sakura..." a soft voice said behind her.  
She gasped and whipped around to face him, "Who are you?"  
"You'll know when the time is right." He put his arms around her and drew her close. For some reason she put her arms around his neck.  
"What's happening?"  
He chuckled and pulled her tighter, "A great evil has come here and I have come to stop it."  
"Who are you? Have we met?"  
"Yes, you know me as Shinigami..."  
She pulled back a bit at hearing that, "Shinigami? But you look nothing like the figure I saw."  
"Only yours and Eriol's guardians can change form?"  
  
She understood and gazed into his green eyes and drew closer. She felt warm and comfortable in his arms, like she was meant to be there. He slowly bent down and kissed her softly. She accepted and deepened the kiss. She felt warm and content. She then felt his warm, green aura envelop her as her world faded to black...  
  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura was back in her bed, coughing and gagging. She looked down at herself and wondered why she was all wet. Then her attention went to a bucket-holding big brother who had a wide smirk on his face.  
  
"TOUYA!!!!" Sakura screamed at her brother.  
"Yes, Kaijou?" Touya just smirked some more and stood there.  
"WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP LIKE THAT? A NICE SHAKING USUALLY WORKS JUST FINE!!!" Sakura was slightly peeved.  
Touya just pointed at her dampened clock, which read 11:02.  
Sakura turned white as she realized that she'd missed two periods already. "I'm gonna be LATE!!!" she ran to get her shower and get dressed.  
Touya intercepted her and threw her back onto the bed. "We've already called in sick for you. You're aura is quite low and you need rest. (Touya and Fujitaka know about the Sakura Cards, Kero, and Yue)"  
"Alright, but if you wanted to tell me to stay home and sleep, why didn't you let me sleep?"  
"Would I be a good big brother if I hadn't? Besides, Lunch at your school starts soon and Tomoyo will probably try to call."  
"Thanks Touya."  
"Anytime, Kaijou" Touya received a glare as he left.  
  
Sakura took her time showering and relaxed under the piping hot water. She slowly lathered up a rag and drowsily wiped and rubbed her soft curves. She took a deep breath and remembered what happened last night. Was it a dream? No. If it were, her aura wouldn't have been so drained and her back wouldn't ache so much. And where was Kero? He must be downstairs eating or something. She was almost surprised that Kero didn't ask for Watery's help in waking her. That would not have been fun. She pushed all of these thoughts aside and just felt the warm water envelop her. She slowly and carefully washed her hair. It was rare that she could pay so much attention to it. She rinsed and stepped from the shower.  
She grabbed one of the soft pink towels from the rack and began to towel herself off. She was in no hurry, so she did it slowly and gently. She then lightly perfumed herself with cherry blossom extract. She had a natural cherry blossom smell to her for some reason, but she liked the slightly different smell the extract gave her.  
  
She walked into her closet and inspected the rows of clothing. She had three school uniforms, a few sundresses, some normal street clothes, and some other articles. She smiled as her gaze moved past the vampire costume. She figured that she'll probably want to get some fresh air soon, so she picked out a pair of tight, faded jeans that were low cut and a pink tank top. She put a white blouse over it and left it unbuttoned. It was a common look, but it suited her quite well. She walked down the stairs 45 minutes after being woken up.  
  
"Ohayo again, Kaijou" Touya said to his sister.  
"Ohayo Otou-chan (at least I think that's dad in Japanese), Onii-chan" Sakura called happily. She felt really good after her shower and her stupid brother was NOT going to get in her way.  
"Here you go Sakura" her dad placed a plate with a bowl of hot soup on it. It was surrounded by grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Her eyes brightened as she gazed at one of her favorite lunch foods. Her mother used to make it for her when she was very young.  
"Thanks daddy!" She dove into her food. She dipped a large portion of the sandwich into the soup then ate the soggy portion. The soup and sandwich were gone in minutes. Touya just stared at her as she ate like she'd never eaten before.  
Sakura glared at her brother, "WHAT?"  
"Kaijou..."  
Sakura growled at him and turned her attention back to her father, "May I have another helping, please?"  
  
Fujitaka smiled at his daughter's appetite and gave her another bowl of soup, sans sandwich. She quickly devoured that bowl, then another, then another. In all she'd eaten four bowls of soup plus the initial tow sandwiches. She patted her belly and started walking to the door, announcing that she was going to take a short walk. She grabbed her cell phone, gloves, and poofy pink jacket and stepped out the door.  
  
  
Outside, 12:09 PM  
  
Sakura's phone rang as she entered King Penguin Park. She then relayed the morning's happenings to her best friend. Tomoyo was very worried and offered to leave school early to be with her, but Sakura refused claiming that she was just drained. (following is only Sakura and Tomoyo)  
  
"Really, Tomoyo, I'm fine!"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Tomoyo!"  
"Alright, alright! What do you want me to tell the rest of the gang?"  
"Just tell them that I was outside and lost track of time, so I slept too long."  
"That'll never work."  
"Tomoyo, I have full confidence that you can make up a convincing story."  
"Sakura, if it were anyone else..."  
"I know and I love ya for it!"  
"Sure you do..."  
"So, how's school?"  
"Tareda-san was disappointed that he couldn't act smug when you showed up late again."  
"Yeah, he would be. Anything else?"  
"Well, Eriol.... no, never mind!"  
"Tomoyo."  
"Yeah?"  
"Spill, now."  
"Alright. Eriol and I are going to start dating!"  
Sakura squealed, "That's great!"  
"Yeah, I've had a crush on him for the longest time now."  
"You two would be so cute together, too!"  
"Yeah. Hey, the bells about the ring so I'll have to let you go."  
"OK."  
"Can you come over today, say four-ish?"  
"Sure thing! I'll see you then."  
"Ok, I love you Sakura. Bye!"  
"I love you too Tomoyo, bye!"  
They both hung up. Sakura was glad to have such a good friend.  
  
Sakura wandered around for a short while longer. She glanced at her watch and noticed that it was only around one o'clock. She still had a few hours to kill and she didn't feel like going home yet, then she spotted a lone Sakura tree in a field. She ran over and inspected it. It was strong and nice wide branches to sit on. One of which looked perfect to recline in. She jumped up into and sat on that branch and looked up at the clouds through the gaps in the branches. The flowers were gone so the tree wasn't as nice as it could have been, but she felt comfortable anyway.  
  
She realized how tired she still was and got an idea. She set her phone to go off and wake her at three o'clock. Then she placed the phone in her collar right beside her ear. Lastly, she pulled her arms and sleeves into her jacket. She quickly dozed off into a light sleep.  
  
  
Sakura's Dream  
  
Darkness, cold, wind. She felt these things and shuddered. She grasped herself to keep warm and noticed that she was naked and kneeling on the floor. No, she wasn't naked. Her battle suit was so badly damaged and torn that it barely covered what needed covering. Her hair was a mess and she was dirty as well. She looked ahead and saw a dark figure. Her first instinct was that it was Shinigami, but this aura felt... evil. The shapeless thing laughed at her cruelly and a mass of energy gathered at his hands. She looked around to see all of her friends were dead. Syaoran, Eriol, even the guardians were all dead. Meiling was still alive, but her aura was slipping away quickly. The figured then launched this energy at her and another figure appeared in front of her. It had dark black wings, long golden hair, and a dark aura. The black energy hit him hard. She yelled something, his name, but she couldn't quite hear herself...  
  
  
Sakura Tree  
  
"BEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEEP!" her phone rang loudly. The sudden noise almost caused her to fall out of her tree, but she regained her balance in time to stop. She turned off her phone and looked at the time. 3:01, it's time to go. Sakura hopped out of her tree and started to walk for Tomoyo's, the long way around. It would take her half an hour to get there by that route. Kero flew up to her, out of breath.  
  
"Where've you been? Your dad said that you were going to take a walk THREE HOURS AGO!"  
"I'm sorry Kero, I was going to only stay out for an hour, but I got sidetracked."  
"Doing what?"  
"I found this nice Sakura tree, climbed up, and uh..."  
"And uh what?"  
"I sorta fell asleep."  
Sakura sweatdropped as Kero fell to the ground, then jumped back up to face her. He was somewhat peeved.  
"I've been looking for you all this time and were SLEEPING! I was really worried Sakura!"  
"Why didn't you just search for my aura?"  
Kero sweatdropped, "Oh, I guess that would have made it easier..."  
Sakura sighed and hugged Kero. "Gomen nasai Kero-chan. I'll remember to call next time I'm going to nap in a tree."  
"Yeah, you'd better..." Kero mumbled.  
"I'm headed for Tomoyo's now, wanna come?"  
"Will she have pudding?"  
"Uh, no. You cleaned her out two days ago, remember?"  
"Oh yeah," Kero sweatdropped again, "Then I'll go do some surveillance on that new kid, Rob."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know. His aura just gives me the creeps and I'd like to know why."  
"Kero, I'll stop by the store and get some pudding. Just leave Rob alone."  
"Sakura, it's my job... to protect... you.... Did you say pudding?"  
"Hai!"  
"PUDDING!"  
Sakura laughed and Kero followed her to the store, then on to Tomoyo's house. Though, Kero wasn't happy that Sakura made him wait until they arrived at Tomoyo's to eat his pudding.  
  
  
Tomoyo's front gate, 3:50 PM  
  
Sakura arrived at Tomoyo's gate early. She pressed the intercom on the front door and was informed that she hadn't come home yet. Sakura waited by a tree just inside the gate, knowing that she had trouble getting around her friend's house without a guide. Then Rob walked up and joined her.  
  
"Hey Sakura-chan!"  
"Hey Rob! What are you doing here?"  
"Tomoyo asked me over for a preliminary fitting. What, do you not want to see me?"  
"Uh, no, it's not that, uh...  
"Oh, I see how it is, no one loves me! Everyone hates me!" Rob starts to sob. Sakura feels really bad and tries to comfort him.  
"No, no. Uh, I love ya!" She gives him a reassuring hug.  
He immediately stops crying and hugs back. I guess now wouldn't be a good time to tell you that I was just messing with you."  
Sakura pushed him away and started hitting him playfully, "You suck!"  
"You'd better believe it!"  
"I do."  
"And now I know that you love me, too!" Rob teased.  
Sakura glared him for a moment, then pounced on him.  
"ACK!" Rob yelled as he went down.  
"You're going to wish that you'd never been born!"  
"I don't see how. Once I consider that I have a beautiful girl lying on top of me." He just smiled up at her innocently.  
"Grrrrr" she started to tickle him and wrestle with him. Rob was caught by surprise so he started laughing uncontrollably.  
  
This continued for a few minutes and they didn't notice Eriol and Tomoyo sneak up on them. Tomoyo giggled at them and Eriol smirked. They still had no idea that they had an audience.  
  
Sakura had gained the upper hand and rolled on top of him, pinning his wrists above his head.  
"Whatcha gonna do now?" she asked him playfully.  
"I'm not sure yet."  
"Well, you're going to say that I'm the strongest person in the world!"  
"Am I?"  
"Hai."  
"What if I do this?" he surged forward, grabbed her, and then flipped her over. They ended up with Rob on top pinning Sakura's arms above her head.  
"Please Mr. Strong Man, please don't hurt me!" she giggled out.  
"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to take you home and keep you as a pet!"  
Sakura purred at him as he leaned in close to her face, their noses almost touching. He leaned forward to kiss her...  
"You two having fun?"  
Rob and Sakura's heads both snapped to the direction of the sound and found a boy with glasses and blue hair with a giggling Tomoyo in his arms.  
"Uh, hi Eriol!" Rob and Sakura called, still frozen in place from surprise.  
Tomoyo regained her composure and asked them, "Care to get off each other and come inside?"  
"Do we have to?" Rob whined.  
Sakura giggled and pushed him off. She got up and linked arms with Tomoyo as they entered the house. Eriol helped Rob up and told him, "If Li saw that, you'd be dying a slow, painful death by his hand."  
"That's why he won't find out for a while." Rob and Eriol entered the house after the girls.  
  
  
Tomoyo's Room  
  
Rob tried on Tomoyo's first try at the costume. It fit fairly well and looked a lot like her sketches. However, it was a bit tight at certain joints and the sleeves were a bit too long. Tomoyo noted these and made notes about the alterations. After Rob had changed back into street clothes, Sakura began to tell everyone about her morning.  
  
"I woke up completely drenched!"  
"Did you sweat a lot that night or something?" Tomoyo asked, worried.  
"No, my wonderful brother threw a bucket of water on me to wake me up."  
Everyone laughed except Rob, who only smiled at her.  
"Then, I start running to the bathroom to get ready, but he grabbed me and threw me onto the bed. I was worried that he was going to yell at me or something, then he tells me that I can stay home from school today!"  
"Score!" Rob said.  
"Exactly," Sakura continued, "I had some soup, grabbed a coat, then went out for a walk. Tomoyo called to invite me over. Then I found a nice Sakura Tree and took a nap."  
"You slept in a tree?" Rob was a bit surprised.  
"I do it all the time" Sakura explained.  
"Well, that's the Japanese for you..." Rob muttered in English. Eriol stifled a giggle.  
  
They talked and laughed until around six o'clock, when they all headed home for dinner.  
  
  
Narrative  
  
The next few days passed quickly. Sakura spent more time with Syaoran and Rob kept his distance to give them some room. Tomoyo and Eriol went out on a date and saw a scary movie. All were entertained by the bruising that Tomoyo had done to Eriol. He should have realized that a scary movie isn't always the best choice.  
Rob continued to see Tomoyo to work on the battle suit. It was coming about quite nicely. Tomoyo put the finishing touches on it and gave it to Rob for the final fitting. It fit perfectly and it was nice and easy to move around in. The Kevlar vest that went under the suit especially impressed him. At Tomoyo's request, he had a quick practice run to test it out. It functioned perfectly.  
  
  
Eriol's Garden, Friday Afternoon  
  
Eriol invited the whole gang over to his house, even Meiling who would be arriving shortly. They were all talking and laughing and generally having a good time.  
  
"Is your cousin arriving today?" Rob inquired of Li.  
"Hai, she is. She should be here any minute now." Li told him.  
"YAY! We get to see Meiling again!" Tomoyo squealed, making Rob wince once again from the sound. Li seemed to smile at his reaction to pain, but no one noticed.  
"Oh, Robbie" Eriol called.  
"Hmm?"  
"Duck."  
Rob did so just as a leg was about to kick his head off. He got up and turned to face the person who tried to hurt him. He found a beautiful girl with black hair. She was wearing a battle costume, but the only similarity it had to the old one was the color scheme. It was still red with hints of gold and a Yin Yang here and there. However, it was now a skintight leotard with a short, tight skirt at the bottom. The leotard also had special dyes so that it shimmered in the right light. She also sported a pair of long gloves made of a strong, but stretchy material. She had a pair of knee-high, red boots made of leather to top it all off. Li smiled, remembering that he told her to do something to distract Rob. This would definitely do it.  
  
"I, Li Meiling challenge you to a duel!" she called.  
"I, Robert Forest accept your challenge." he replied. He then turned to Tomoyo, "Get my new battle suit." She nodded her head and ran into the house, returning with the new outfit. Rob took a moment behind the bushes to change, and came out wearing his new suit. Eriol, Li, and Meiling were impressed by the workmanship.  
  
"Shall we begin?" Rob said confidently.  
"Hai."  
"Ladies first."  
"Thank you, kind sir."  
  
With that, she lunged at Rob, but he dodged expertly. They threw a few straight kicks and punches, gauging each other's ability. Rob took a step back and glared at her. She was insane to think that such garb would distract him in the heat of battle. Although, it was irritating since there weren't any lose bits of clothing to grab onto. He saw her eye muscles tense up and he charged while she was blinking. She opened her eyes to a boot in her face. She was knocked back a good ten feet before skidding to the ground. As she got up, her aura flared in anger. She charged and kicked but he just dodged, or did he? She landed and swept her leg under him and knocked him into the air. She then brought her heel down on his stomach while he was still in midair. He grimaced as he hit the dirt, then as Meiling was about to finish him off, he flipped up onto his feet and punched her across the jaw HARD. She skittered across the ground but regained her footing and stood.  
  
She charged him again, throwing kicks and punches that Rob simply dodged. "Stay still!" she yelled at him, but he took no heed. He then spied an opening and punched her in the chest. He then performed a back handspring and kicked her under the chin on the way. She flew up then started back down upside-down. He landed then put a lot of strength into a strike to the middle of her back. He was careful not to damage anything important, but she still ended up thirty feet away and on her hands and knees. Li was worried once he noticed Rob's slight advantage.  
  
"Sakura..." Li whispered to her.  
"Yeah?" Sakura answered.  
"Use the Power and Dash cards on her."  
"But then she'll cream Rob!"  
"Rob's creaming her now." He glanced at Rob who kicked Meiling in stomach.  
"Good point." Sakura took out the two cards and concentrated on them as they disappeared. Sakura took note of Meiling's brief pink glow as the cards took effect.  
  
Meiling noticed immediately what had happened and waited for Rob to get too close. He went in for a punch, but Meiling just rolled with it and delivered a devastating roundhouse to Rob's jaw. He flew back a good ways but landed in a crouch to find that Meiling was already there. He looked up and she smiled down at him before kicking him again. He quickly stood back up and caught Meiling's next high kick. He smiled at her innocently, then kicked her in the jaw. She stumbled back and gasped as Rob was standing in front of her. She was still off-balance so she couldn't dodge the ensuing kick. What really surprised her is that he still seemed to have a strength advantage. She still had the power of dash, so she decided to run from him to test his speed. She turned back to notice that he was gone and chuckled to herself. She hit something hard and was sent sprawling backward. She looked up to find a smiling Rob.  
  
The CCS gang not involved were wide eyed with their jaws all on the floor. This kid must be really fast and strong to outdo Meiling with cards attached.  
  
Rob decided that he'd had enough and started to really beat her, but was careful not to break anything. He now had her backed up to a tree. She was about to move forward to attack, but he placed his heel on her neck and pinned her to the tree. She tried to struggle, but he simply applied more pressure to her neck until she realized that she'd been beaten. Rob finally spoke to her.  
"If you concede, I may allow you to remain conscious for the rest of the day." His voice was sharp, but even. He was in complete control.  
"Alright, I concede" she whispered, dropping her head.  
"Say so that they can hear it" he said while indicating their audience.  
She took a deep breath and yelled, "I CONCEDE! LET ME GO!"  
He relaxed and she collapsed to the ground from the effort she gave. He quickly knelt down and helped her up. He then pulled her arm around his neck and put his own arm around her waist. He then helped her walk back to the group.  
  
"Li, I think your cousin could use a change of clothes, and a few ice packs" Rob said, handing Meiling to Li. Li picked her up in his arms then rushed her inside, making sure to glare at Rob before he left. Rob took a deep breath and collapsed into a seated position next to Sakura and Eriol. Sakura called the cards back and placed them back into her book while Rob was resting with his eyes closed.  
"I thought that I'd only be fighting Meiling, not Meiling magically augmented..." Rob said as he moved a few sore muscles.  
Eriol, Sakura, and Tomoyo gasped. Sakura spoke up, "Magic? What magic?"  
"Drop the act, I'm well aware of the cards, Cardmistress," he turned to Eriol, "And of you, Clow-sama."  
Sakura and Eriol were speechless. Rob just smiled at them and lay on the soft grass of the hill, watching the clouds.  
  
  
Fin Chapter Five  
  
I bet you're all wondering what just happened. Rob knows of the Clow cards! And worse yet, he knows of the Clow Mistress! He even knows that Eriol is the reincarnation of Clow Reed! What the frell is going on!? Sufficient to say, the plot thickens! 


	6. Who is this guy?

Konnichiwa Minna! I'm back and ready for more! Before I go on, I need to thank my buddy Starrie for giving me a wonderful idea about what to do next! Of course, I'm going to twist her idea into a pretzel, but I think you'll all like it anyway.  
  
And to answer Azure-chan: Yes, Rob is really THAT powerful. He knows quite a bit, and you'll know why soon. And I'll have the next chapter out... well, now!  
  
Read on!  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Eriol's Garden  
  
Rob has just dropped a real bombshell on his new friends. He has revealed that he knows everything about the Clow Cards and Card Mistress. He even seems to know that Eriol is the reincarnation of Clow Reed. He is also very strong, seeing as how he defeated Meiling while she was using the Power and Dash cards.  
  
Eriol jumped up and yelled, "How do you know of the cards and Card Mistress!?" Tomoyo jumped a bit. She'd never heard him yell before.  
"And how did you get that strong!?" Sakura joined in.  
"Don't worry, I'll reveal all once Li returns with Meiling" Rob smiled at them and lay back down. Eriol and Sakura were very annoyed at his lack of respect, but calmly sat down and glared at him as they waited.  
  
"NOW HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!?!?!" came Li's yell. Rob took note of Li and Meiling's return and stood in front of his audience, preparing to explain.  
"First, Sakura, is the Guardian of the seal, Cerberus, here?" Rob asked.  
"Yes, he's inside" Sakura replied.  
"Would you mind calling him out here, I'll have more credibility if he confirms everything I say"  
Sakura didn't understand what he meant, but she called Kero anyway. He looked horrified when he saw that he was called to appear before someone who he didn't know, but obeyed his mistress's command.  
"Now, Cerberus, if you would be so kind as to return to your true form, I'll begin" Rob said.  
Kero looked to Sakura, who only nodded. He quickly changed into his true form, a large yellow lion with large white wings. He settled somewhat between Sakura and Rob, instinctually preparing to protect her.  
"Alright now, let's begin."  
  
Rob concentrated his energy then began to chant,   
"Scythe of the Dead  
With power beyond mortal sight  
Reveal yourself  
and lend me your MIGHT!"  
A small ball of dark energy appeared in front of him. He smiled and grabbed it and as soon as he grasped it, it extended into a long staff. Then, a pair of red blades extended out from the end, leaving a black and red scythe to solidify. The group gasped at this and Sakura thought it was the same scythe that Shinigami had, but he didn't look anything like him, so she dismissed the thought. He then turned to Cerberus, who had a horrified look on his face.  
"Cerberus, Guardian Beast of the Seal, former Guardian of the Gates of Hell, identify this artifact for everyone" Rob ordered.  
"That is the Death Scythe, a powerful weapon that allows the carrier to rip a person's soul from his/her body. It may only be carried by the God of Death, Shinigami" the great beast explained.  
At his last word, everyone tensed, even Tomoyo who had put that symbol on the battle suit that she'd made for him. They had no idea that he was so powerful. Eriol, Li, and Sakura thought that he might have a few powers, but they didn't even consider that he might be a god.  
"Do you not believe me? Then maybe this will convince you..." he trailed off as he began to concentrate.  
  
Soon, he was surrounded by a dark aura that nearly engulfed him. Sakura began to worry until she noticed him smiling at her. She could just make out the changes that he was undergoing. His hair lengthened to rest just below his waist, then it braided itself tightly. He closed his eyes as his hair took only a golden hue and seemed to glow. The next thing she saw was him, spreading his wings. He had a massive pair of black, bat wings. He flapped them powerfully and a gust of wind hit them, but quickly died down. The dark aura vanished and they were left facing a being with golden hair, a massive set of wings, and a very strong dark aura. He then opened his dark, red eyes at them. Everyone except for Sakura jumped a bit at his new color.  
  
"He has such a dark and evil aura" Syaoran sneered.  
"I sense no evil" Eriol whispered.  
"I feel almost a warmth coming from him" Sakura said, but no one heard her.  
"I am not an evil being, just dark" Rob whispered as kindly as he could, but it still came out to sound menacing.  
"I don't believe you! You must be evil to have done this to Meiling!" yelled the cousin of the injured girl.  
"Yeah, that's true. Why would you beat a defenseless girl?" Sakura interjected.  
Rob winced slightly and stared at Meiling.  
"Can you prove to us that you are not evil?" Eriol asked.  
Rob simply walked up to Meiling. She tried to move, but she was paralyzed in fear. Rob stopped a few inches from her and smiled warmly down upon the terrified girl. He reached out and embraced her in a warm and reassuring hug and more dark energy surrounded them. Li tried to run over and stop him, but he was too late. A moment later, the aura subsided and there was a smiling, healed Meiling hugging Rob gratefully. Shinigami looked to Eriol.  
  
"Works for me!" Eriol said happily. Sakura and Tomoyo cautiously agreed, but Li wasn't so easily convinced. Rob returned to his Base form and Sakura found her courage.  
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" she asked him, hurt.  
Rob bowed his head before replying, "I'm sorry Sakura, but I couldn't let you know when I first met you"  
"Why not?" she demanded.  
"I was hoping that this new power would be weak enough for me to handle without involving you, but now I know that I will need your help."  
"Our help? After you lied to us?" Sakura said with more hurt in her voice.  
Rob drooped noticeably, "I'm really sorry Sakura for the deception, but mortals are not supposed to involved in godly affairs. I've broken major rules by telling you all this."  
Sakura turned her back on him, "I will not help a liar!"  
He grabbed her hand and turned her around. She was surprised look at the boy kneeling at her feet, holding her hand. "Please Card Mistress, I beg of you. Help me. PLEASE!"  
She couldn't believe it. This "god" was kneeling at her feet begging for her help. She wanted to refuse him again, but she couldn't.  
"Alright," she said softly, "we will help you."  
Rob stood slowly and smiled, "Thank you."  
  
  
Inside Eriol's Home, tea time  
  
The gang was sitting in Eriol's living room, sipping tea and trying to comprehend what had just happened. Kero told everyone the truth of his existence as well. He was not created by Clow Reed, but summoned by him to help protect his book. Clow was only allowed to believe that he had created Kero. The room was completely silent for ten minutes while everyone was off in their own little world. Things were looking not too good, and it was only Friday afternoon.  
  
Robbie decided to break the heavy silence and spoke, "How about them Lakers, eh?"  
Everyone looked at him like he'd gone insane, then everyone started to laugh at him. It was a very infectious laughter and everyone was soon overcome. Even the three guardians in attendance were rolling on the ground. No one knew why it was so funny, but they enjoyed the laughter while it lasted. All too soon the sound died down, but at least they were now in good spirits.  
"Well, I'm sorry for dropping that on all of you like that. Will you forgive me?" Rob asked.  
Everyone was silent, looking at each other, not sure what to say.  
"I know that I forgive you." Meiling said.  
"I do too!" Tomoyo squealed, getting another wince from Rob.  
Soon, everyone forgave Rob. All except for Sakura, that is. She simply remained silent through the exchange, staring down at her full cup of tea.  
"I'm sorry..." Sakura excused herself and left. Rob and Li both began to follow her, but Eriol stopped Li.  
"She and Rob have a few things to work out, my cute little descendant."  
Li nodded and sat back down to finish his tea.  
"I hope everything is alright..." Tomoyo whispered to herself.  
  
  
Eriol's House, Hallway  
  
Sakura was sitting on the stairs lightly crying. She heard someone enter after her and she hoped that it was Syaoran, come to comfort her, but it wasn't. She looked up to see a very concerned Rob looking down at her. She wiped away the tears and glared at him.  
  
"What do you want?" she sneered.  
"To help you and make you understand."  
"I understand all that I need to."  
"No, you don't. You think that I betrayed you. Maybe I did, maybe I lied to you, and maybe I don't deserve your trust anymore. But, you must believe this: I did it in hopes that I wouldn't drag you and your friends into a fight that will get you all killed."  
"You don't know that we'd all..."  
"Yes, I do. If you all fight you will all die and even then, this evil may yet prevail."  
"Than why ask for our help?"  
"As long as I survive, I might be able to revive all of you. If I perish, then you won't want to be revived."  
"This is some apology..."  
Rob chuckled, "I'm sorry. I'm out of practice."  
"I can tell."  
"So, Sakura, will you forgive me?"  
"Well...."  
Rob cut off Sakura as he embraced her in a tight hug. Sakura struggled at first, but conceded and hugged him back.  
"Please, my friend?" he whispered into her ear.  
"Alright, I forgive you" she whispered back.  
"Thank you..." Rob said to her, releasing her.  
"Ok! So what will we tell everyone when we go back in?"  
"Well, I have an idea..." he smiled evilly and whispered the rest of his plan to her as she nodded and mirrored his smile.  
  
  
Eriol's Living Room... Again  
  
They've all been waiting for Rob and Sakura to come back from talking. They thought it would take a while, but it had been 15 minutes. Syaoran was starting to get restless but sat down anyway. Eriol perked up announced that they were coming back. The opening doors revealed a smiling pair of teenagers holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. Rob took Sakura's previous seat next to Syaoran and Sakura sat on his lap. Syaoran just stared at them with wide eyes, as did everyone else.  
  
Sakura just ignored them and held Rob tightly. She whispered to him, "I think we shocked them."  
"Does that mean that I have to let you go?" Rob whispered back.  
"Syaoran will start glaring in a moment if you don't."  
"Well, then I'll have to give you to him."  
With that, he stood up and put Sakura in Li's lap. He looked around and noticed that Meiling was standing, leaning against the couch. He walked over, picked her up, walked back to his seat, and sat down with her on his lap. She was a bit surprised but didn't mind. Sakura shot her a quick glare that no one noticed.  
  
"Well hello there" Meiling said to Rob.  
"Hello to you too"  
"I don't think that we've been properly introduced"  
"I'm Robbie Foster, aka Shinigami," he held a hand up, "pleased to meet you."  
"I'm Li Meiling," she took his hand and shook it firmly, "pleased to meet you as well."  
  
Tomoyo felt a bit jealous as they exchanged pleasantries and she jumped into Eriol's lap and arms. He was a bit surprised, but hugged her tightly.  
  
"Well, I can feel the love in this room!" Robbie chimed in. Everyone chuckled as the girls climbed off the guys. They were all happy and friends again. All was good and peachy keen again! Though Sakura had a lingering feeling after seeing Meiling on her lap, but she shrugged it off.  
  
  
Later that Night, Still Eriol's house  
  
The gang decided to spend the night at Eriol's that night. Li took Meiling home to get their clothes. Tomoyo did the same with Sakura. Rob didn't have to worry about hiding his power anymore, so he grew a beautiful pair of white, feathered wings and flew home after Sakura left. They all returned about half an hour later with changes of clothing and other items. Eriol noticed that Rob was careful to hide his wings from her, but didn't know why. They ate a nice dinner together and retired to their assigned rooms. Meiling had the odd habit of hitting on Rob a LOT while they were together. For some reason this upset Sakura a little. Rob was in his room, looking out the window at the full moon when a knock came at the door.  
  
"Enter" he called. The door silently swept open and a girl entered. "Meiling, I think that we've spent enough time together today."  
"It's me, Sakura."  
He chuckled to himself and called back to her, "come over and look at the moon with me," he moved over to allow her some room by the window. She walked over and leaned on the sill and gazed at the moon.  
"A few days ago, I had a dream..." she started.  
"Oh? What about?"  
"Well, there were actually two, I think. The first one I had I just heard a flutter and a green-eyed boy with wings."  
"And the second dream?"  
"I'm not sure if it was a dream. I followed that boy out into the night, over a grove of trees. I flew down and stood on one, and he grabbed me from behind."  
"Uh-huh..."  
"Well, I turned and instead of pulling away, I put my arms around him and drew him close. He told me things that I can't seem to remember right now, but I do remember feeling content. We hugged and then we kissed... passionately."  
Rob smiled at that last part, "So, what would you like to know about the 'dreams'?"  
"Well, he has green eyes, and so do you. I thought that it might have been you, but your wings are black and...."  
Rob cut her off as he spread his pure, white wings and placed one around her after seeing her shiver. She looked at the wing and continued to speak.  
"It was you..."  
"Yes, it was. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you then, either. I just felt like I owed you a reassurance and... never mind."  
"And what?"  
"I probably shouldn't..."  
"You lied and withheld things before and look what it got you?"  
He chuckled and continued, "alright then. Promise me that you won't overreact?"  
"I promise."  
"I have feelings for you Sakura. I really like you. I don't know how deep the feelings go yet, that's why I waited to tell you. I understand if you don't feel the same way..."  
"I really like you too Rob," she put and arm around his waist and he put his arm about her shoulders in response, "But I also love Syaoran."  
"I know, I could sense the bond you shared. But, I also sensed that it was no longer fated."  
"Hoe?"  
"You were to come together in order to save the world and capture the Clow Cards. Now that you've done that I sense that you no longer MUST be together."  
"What are you saying, that I'm supposed to be with you know?"  
"No, not at all. I'm saying that before you had no choice, you were fated to love Syaoran. Now you have a choice with no obligation to love anyone."  
"Thanks, but that won't change who I love."  
"I know, but that may let you love one more person."  
She stared at him for several minutes before replying, "I may learn to love one more, but he's going to have to give me time to accept him."  
"If he has any sense, he'll give you all the time you need." He turned around and gave her a strong hug, using his wings to draw her nearer. He hugged back as tightly as she could, then broke away.  
"I should go back to my room. Goodnight Rob-kun."  
"Goodnight Saku-chan." She giggled at the odd shortening of her name as she left.  
Rob sighed to himself as he felt a red aura move toward him. "Meiling now, great..." he said to himself as his wings disappeared.  
  
There came a knock on his door.  
"Aren't I popular tonight," he muttered to himself as he called out, "come in Meiling!"  
The black-haired girl entered silently and walked up to him. She came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.  
"Aren't we friendly tonight?" he said to her.  
"What can I say, I'm attracted to strong men."  
"Well, I must admit that I appreciate a strong woman."  
She pulled back and turned him around to face her. She then drew him into an embrace.  
  
He looked down at her and noticed her nightgown. It was a dark red with black trim. It seemed to have some of the same symbols as her battle dress. They must have some special significance to her, he surmised before returning his attention to the girl in his arms.  
  
"Do you want to talk?" he asked her.  
"No, I just want to be here with you."  
He considering telling her that he just wanted to be friends, but realized that it may take a while for Sakura to come around. But in case she came around quickly, he needed a way to switch easily.  
"Meiling, I only just met you today. Before we get too close, I think that we should take some time to get to know each other. Let's just be friends for now and see where it takes us?"  
"I know, Robbie. You're probably right, I'll go. Goodnight."  
As she walked away, she felt a hand grab her arms and she soon found herself in Rob's arms. He then bent down and pecked her softly on the lips. "Goodnight, Meiling." He released her. She smiled as she left.  
  
  
Sakura's Room  
  
Sakura was sitting on her bed looking out her own window, thinking about her conversation with Rob. She felt Meiling enter his room, but she felt unconcerned for some reason. She didn't even notice the bright green aura of Syaoran enter her room. He stood there, staring at his angel, the girl he loved. He chuckled at her gown, as it was pink with embroidered cherry blossoms. It suited her well. Sakura glanced up at his chuckle.  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked, smiling.  
"I was just thinking about how much your night gown suits you."  
"Yeah, Tomoyo has a gift for making me stuff that suits me."  
He walked up to her, "May I sit?"  
"Of course silly!"  
He sat before he continued, "Sakura, I can't help but think that you don't love me anymore."  
"Hoe? What makes you think that?"  
"Well, you've seemed so distant since I came back. You're also spending more time of that Robbie kid."  
"Don't worry, I still love you... with all of my heart. Rob and I just had a talk about that. He told me some things that change things slightly, but he has agreed to give me space. We can be together without having to worry about anything now."  
"What did he tell you?"  
"He said that I was no longer fated to love you, and that now I have choice about who I love. I guess he was trying to tell me that you might not be the right one for me, but I'm sure that he was just being cautious."  
"Oh..."  
Sakura saw his disheartened expression and decided to do something about it. He got up and knelt in front of Syaoran so that she could look up into his eyes. "Syaoran, I love you and will always love you. Nothing can get in the way of that."  
He smiled down at her and leaned down to hug her. "Thanks, Sakura. That means a lot to me. He looked down and gazed into her beautiful green eyes.  
Sakura gazed up at him. She then moved up and captured his lips in a sweet kiss. She broke away after a few moments and asked, "Do you believe me?"  
"Well, I'm not sure yet..."  
She cut him off as she kissed him more deeply, more passionately. She felt content, but there was something nagging at her. She asked herself, 'I know this is right, but why does it feel wrong?' She broke away and smiled at Syaoran.  
He sensed the slight timidity in her aura and withdrew. He gave her a last peck on the cheek before bidding her goodnight and leaving.  
  
She closed the door behind him and collapsed onto her bed. She began to cry. "What is going on? I love Syaoran so much, but I also love Rob.." she trailed off as she realized that she finally admitted it. "I love Rob, I love him." She felt better saying it, but it didn't help her out of her situation. "Who do I choose? How can I choose? I love them both so much, but I don't know what to do!" She sighed, realizing that she can't solve anything tonight. "I'll just have to see what happens, I guess." She dried her tears and climbed under her blankets, soon falling into a dreamless sleep.  
  
  
Eriol's Room  
  
Tomoyo decided to talk about her boyfriend about Sakura and Rob. She felt that they should be together. She knew that they both loved each other even if neither would admit it. She went to Eriol for his feelings and advice.  
  
"I know that Rob loves Sakura, and that Sakura loves him!" She began.  
"I do sense that their auras tend to gravitate toward each other, that could be a sign of love"  
"I'm really worried that she might not be able to handle choosing between them!"  
"Don't worry, Sakura is strong, she'll be able to find who she loves the most."  
"I'm worried about what will happen if she chooses Rob. Li won't take it well. He might even get violent."  
"Rob is more than strong enough to contain him if he does. I'm sure that Rob will be disappointed if he isn't chosen, but will respect her decision."  
"I hope everything turns out alright..." a tear rolled down her face as she thought about how much Sakura would be hurt.  
"It will be, I promise..." Eriol held Tomoyo tightly and kissed her lightly on the cheek.  
"Eriol, I don't want to leave."  
"Then don't, he pulled back his comforter and blankets, "you can sleep with me tonight."  
"Uh..."  
"Don't worry, I don't bite... hard."  
Tomoyo giggled at his mysterious expression and climbed into bed, followed by Eriol. He put his arms around her and whispered in her ear, "I love you Tomoyo, sleep well."  
"I love you, too" she whispered back as she drifted into a deep sleep. Eriol soon did the same as the angel in his arms... his angel.  
  
  
Rob's Room, about 3 AM  
  
Rob woke with a start as he sensed trouble in Hong Kong. The Elders of the Li clan were planning something that would cause trouble. He could sense the threads of fate being changed by their power. "Fools..." he cursed at them. He quickly concentrated and disappeared, reappearing in the Elder's council chamber. He stayed hidden in the shadows while he listened.  
  
"The Li boy will not be powerful enough to defeat this evil now, we must recall him for more training" Elder One spoke. (I don't know their names so I'm going to number them)  
"Surely the combined power of him and the Card Mistress will be enough!" Two reassured.  
"He has made arrangements to stay there indefinitely, it should be HIS choice, not yours" Yelen (Li's mom) stood and spoke to them. The Elders were surprised to see her interrupt, but ignored her comment.  
"He must be recalled now!" the youngest of the Elders yelled. He had newly been appointed as an Elder because of his oddly strong aura. Only the eldest Elder's was stronger.  
A figure in a black robe stepped into the light between the Elders and everyone stopped, not knowing where he came from. The semi-circle of tables that the Elders sat at seemed to groan and creak that this person's appearance. The youngest Elder was about to yell at him for interrupting their meeting, but the figure's glare made him sit down.  
  
"You will not force Li to return" the figure ordered.  
"What right have YOU to give US orders" the Youngest spoke.  
The figure just smiled and pulled a large scythe from his robes. The elders looked in awe but still didn't think that a scythe made one worthy to interrupt them. He spoke again.  
"I, Shinigami, the ruler of souls and god of death, has more than enough right to give YOU commands."  
There was a great commotion about his introduction. They couldn't believe that a god had truly descended to give them orders on a "trivial" matter. Perhaps they didn't know the scope of what was going on.  
"You show up with a scythe and just expect us to believe that you're a god? Can you prove it? If not th...."  
Shinigami, performing a gesture with his scythe that gave the impression of forcefully pulling something, cut him off. Youngest instantly fell onto the table, dead. A small red ball, the same red as the former Elder's aura, appeared in front of the god.  
"Do you all believe me now?" he asked.  
All of the people in the room nodded frantically, daring not to speak.  
"Now," Shinigami-sama continued, "You will follow my instruction and leave the boy alone." He turned to leave and as he did, he tossed the ball of energy behind him into the room. The ball dispersed and the energy entered the Youngest. He coughed heavily and slowly rose shakily. They glanced back to where Shinigami was, but found no one. They couldn't even sense his aura.  
"Looks like we have no choice" the Eldest said.  
"Indeed" another commented.  
  
  
Rob's Room  
  
He returned shortly after leaving, no one would know that he'd left. He dropped his scythe and it instantly disappeared, going wherever it goes when it does that. Rob climbed back under his blankets and fell back to sleep.  
  
  
Fin Chapter Six  
  
Well, looks like Rob does need Everyone if he had to order the Elders to allow Li to stay. What could be too powerful for a god to handle and how could the CCS gang possibly help? You'll all find out soon, very soon. Well Starrie, there's you're stinkin' S+S moment! *smiles* Ok, I'll see you all later! 


	7. Another Fight

Konnichiwa Minna! I've been mulling around a little before starting this chapter, so I'm sorry that it took me three days to update. Azure Rosas, I was honored to help you out with Sakura's costume, do not hesitate to ask of my assistance again.  
  
Without Further adieu, I thank my reviewers and continue my story.  
  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
They woke up late, around eleven, that morning. Meiling was worn out from the fight, Sakura was worn out mentally from her own problems, Tomoyo and Eriol were too content in each other's arms to wake up early, and Rob was just plain lazy. Li got up early from habit and trained for a few hours with his sword. He sensed that Sakura and Rob were about to wake up, so he decided to start on dinner. Sakura got up and decided to get a shower.  
  
She stepped into the hot water and allowed the heat to wrap around her and comfort her. Even if the Rob and Li predicament flopped, her shower wouldn't leave her! She gently washed herself and sang softly as she toweled off. She knew that her door was locked, so she left the towel and walked out the door into her room completely naked. What she didn't realize was that she came in through the door on the left and exited through the one on the right. Nor did she know that her room and Rob's room shared that bathroom. She opened the door with her eyes closed; she was still a little tired.  
  
Rob was listening to Sakura shower, waiting for her to finish. He heard the water stop, so he drowsily climbed out of bed and disrobed. He grabbed a towel and waited for the sound of the other door opening and closing, signaling Sakura's departure. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, trying to rid himself of exhaustion. He was extremely surprised when something hit him.  
  
Rob and Sakura's eyes snapped open and looked at each other in horror. Each other's bodies didn't horrify them, but rather that they'd accidentally bumped into to each other naked. They both screamed in unison, "AAAAAAAAH!"  
"What are you doing in my room naked!?" she yelled at him.  
"This is my room! You just barged in!"  
"This can't be your room, now get out!"  
"Sakura, our rooms share a bathroom! See that door?" he pointed through the bathroom to her room's door, "That's your room."  
Sakura realized that he was right and dashed into the bathroom, slamming his door, then her own. Rob just sighed to himself and went in for his shower.  
  
The other tenants heard the commotion and ran up to see what the matter was. Sakura admitted Tomoyo into her room as she dressed and told her the whole story.  
  
"So you walked out the wrong door into Rob's room, completely naked?" Tomoyo giggled as she recapped her story.  
"It's not funny!"  
"Oh, but it is!"  
"It was totally embarrassing!"  
"That's what makes it funny.  
"TOMOYO!"  
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but I think that it's funny."  
They heard a knock at Sakura's bathroom door, then a muffled voice, "Sakura, is it my turn to barge in to your room naked?"  
"No!" Sakura called back with an edge of anger in her voice.  
"You can see her naked tomorrow!" Tomoyo called.  
"Ok, see you later then..." the voice trailed off.  
Sakura looked at her friend, horrified.  
"Don't worry," her amethyst-eyed friend reassured, "we were only kidding."  
"You had better have been kidding" Sakura muttered.  
"So, was he hot?"  
"TOMOYO!"  
"What? I'm a teenager, I have right to be curious."  
"Well..."  
"Well what?"  
"He was kind of hot..."  
"Just kind of?"  
"Well, yeah, kind of..."  
"Sakura"  
"Alright, he was hot! Jeez, do you always have to be so stubborn?"  
"Hai, I do"  
Sakura growled at her friend, "I'll have my revenge!"  
"Oh yeah, how?"  
"Like this!" Sakura jumped on her friend and started to tickle her. Tomoyo collapsed in giggles and soon broke out in loud laughter. Outside, everyone was just staring at the door, listening to the loud noises within. They just shrugged and went on about their business. Li called to both of them that breakfast would be ready in 15 minutes.  
  
  
Downstairs  
  
Everyone was sitting at the table, ready to eat. The only ones that weren't present were Rob and Sakura, who were on their way. Rob encountered Sakura in the hall and walked her in. They sat next to each other at the breakfast table.  
  
"Rob, I'm sorry about barging in like that" Sakura said to him.  
"Don't worry about it. I can't say that I didn't enjoy the interruption..." Rob said as he smiled at her.  
Sakura just glared at him, "NOT funny."  
"Well, I have to admit that it did wake me up" Rob teased her some more.  
"You just have to tease me, don't you?" she asked.  
"Feel honored, I only tease the people I like" he commented.  
"Yeah, I feel really honored..." she muttered to herself.  
"Hey! You don't tease me" Meiling chimed in.  
"I barely know you. I'm afraid of offending you" he explained.  
"You were quite offensive yesterday, why would now be any different" Meiling teased.  
"An outdated code of chivalry that tends to do me more harm than good" he replied.  
"Ah. Well, feel free to tease me anytime!" she chirped.  
Rob noted that and began to eat.  
"Shouldn't we say grace?" Li asked?  
"I AM a god, what do you need to pray to another one for? If you like, you can pray and I'll pass it along" Rob commented as he continued to eat. He must have had a lot of practice talking with his mouth full. Li just stared at him for a moment.  
"Oooook then, Let's eat!" Syaoran finally announced and everyone soon joined Rob in chowing down.  
Twenty minutes later, everyone was full and recovering on the living room couches. They were talking about school and Christmas vacation.  
  
"So, Meiling, will you be enrolling in school?" Sakura asked.  
"No, I'm only here for a week of school so I don't see the point. I'll come to soccer and cheerleading practice if you like, though." she replied.  
"Sakura doesn't cheerlead anymore, unfortunately. Soccer is also over for the year, too cold." Tomoyo told her.  
"Ah, that's too bad Sakura," Meiling turned to her cousin, "and too bad that you can't show off your skills, right?"  
"Yeah, it's a real pity. I was really looking forward to dazzling all of the Japanese girls...." Li stopped suddenly once he realized what he said, "and I like to really annoy them by telling them that I'm taken by the most wonderful girl in the world!" The last part he said unsurely.  
"It's alright Li, your leash isn't quite that short" Sakura commented, but shot him a cold glare anyway. Everyone laughed when he shivered under her gaze.  
"Good thing that I have enough sense to not to do to my girlfriend" Eriol added.  
"True, he knows that I'd beat him up!" Tomoyo playfully punched his arm as she said that.  
They all laughed but Eriol stopped them, "Don't laugh, she isn't joking. Look at this bruise!" He stood and lifted his shirt to reveal a large, purple bruise on his side.  
"You got that when Nakuru glomped you thinking you were Touya!" Tomoyo explained hurriedly.  
"Sure he did, I know you Tomoyo" Sakura teased her friend.  
"I'm a lover, not a fighter!" Tomoyo quoted.  
"True, I have first hand knowledge" Eriol said.  
"Ooooh! My man Eriol is gettin' it ON!" Li teased his ancestor.  
Tomoyo looked a bit, well, horrified by this exchange. "What, um, uh, NO!"  
Everyone just giggled at her. Soon, even Tomoyo joined in on the laughter.  
  
"Well, guys, I hate to talk shop after a nice round of fun teasing, but we need to plan a strategy" Rob said after a pause. Everyone had been avoiding the subject, but knew that they needed to plan something.  
"Yes. What can you tell us?" Eriol inquired.  
"It is called Akuma. He is an ancient force of pure evil that comes around every few hundred years. Normally a god can get to him and put him down quickly, but he has hidden himself too well this time" Rob explained.  
"How was he defeated last time and who defeated him?" Li asked, "Perhaps he or she can give us some pointers."  
"That is not an option. The last one to defeat him was the Goddess of Life, who I destroyed to acquire my position" Rob told them.  
"You destroyed a goddess?" Sakura asked surprised, "As a mortal?"  
"Yes. I prefer not to talk about that day. It was one of the worst days of my life," he shut his eyes trying to drive away the memory of what happened, "But yes, even as a mortal I am very powerful. In fact, I was only using my mortal strength when I defeated Meiling."  
"Defeated me? You beat the living daylights out of me!" Meiling called playfully.  
"True..." Rob smiled at her, "We can go another round as soon as you're ready."  
"Nah, that's alright" she replied quickly.  
"So, will you all be powerful enough to handle him?" Tomoyo asked.  
"I hope so" Rob whispered.  
  
They continued to talk and formulated a few strategies to use in dire situations. Most of which focused only letting the only immortal among them fight while they used all of their magical energy to protect themselves. Of course, Rob had a special contingency plan just in case he was not strong enough to defeat Akuma. He didn't tell them, figuring that telling them would make them rely on that as a safety net. They must fight believing that if they didn't do their best, they would die, which was completely true. rob excused himself to his room to meditate and perhaps gather insight as too what Akuma was doing.  
  
"Well, Tomoyo, I guess we'd better do something to cheer us up!" Sakura announced to her friend.  
"Yep, but what could we possibly do?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.  
"Would could go... SHOPPING!" Sakura squealed. Tomoyo squealed happily and hugged her friend. They soon went out to Sakura's pink Bug and headed for the mall.  
  
  
Mall  
  
Tomoyo and Sakura were both walking around the mall, checking out a few of their favorite hangouts. Tomoyo picked up some jeans, a few tops, and a rather impressive pair of stretchy pants with illusion glitter (it changes color depending on the angle of the light hitting it). Sakura got a new jacket and a few long-sleeved shirts. They soon found themselves in front of a new costume store and Tomoyo pulled her friend inside.  
  
"Tomoyo, what is up with you and costumes lately?" Sakura asked.  
"I don't know, but I know I like it!" she replied.  
Sakura put on a pair of fairy wings and turned to her friend, "How's this?"  
"Kawaii! But, overdone," she grabbed a more substantial set of angel's wings and gave them to her friend.  
"Thanks!" Sakura thanked (duh) as she put them on.  
"You look so sugoi!"  
"Hehe, thanks Tomoyo."  
Tomoyo got an idea and grabbed a few items, then handed them to Sakura. "Ok Sakura, you've tried my Vampire costume, so go try this on!"  
"Uh, ok..." Sakura said as she went into the dressing room.  
  
She looked at the items given to her and blushed. Tomoyo really had a knack for dressing her in skimpy clothes. All she had was a barely-there robe, a white thong, and a set of angel wings. She also found a golden chain among the items. She knew that if she didn't come out dressed properly that Tomoyo wouldn't let her leave until she was, so she changed reluctantly.  
  
Sakura emerged a few minutes later. Tomoyo was beginning to wonder if she would come out. That was definitely one of the skimpiest outfits that she'd ever picked out for her, and she wanted Sakura to wear it in a public place. She was ecstatic when an angel left the dressing room. Sakura had on the white robe that was really more like a long strip of cloth sewn in certain spots. It barely covered her breasts and other private areas. It was too thin to cover much, so the entire side of her body was visible. From each side of her ankle up to her shoulders was all visible skin. The golden chain was wrapped around her waist, then up to circle around her neck, the chain dangling slightly in her cleavage. Sakura's wings completely the sexy angelic look. Tomoyo complimented her and Sakura went back in to change back into her street clothes. What Tomoyo didn't know was that Sakura was planning her revenge.  
  
Sakura stepped out, "You done embarrassing me today?"  
"Maybe, what's it to you?"  
"If you weren't my best friend..."  
"...I couldn't make you do all kinds of kawaii stuff!" Tomoyo finished for her friend.  
"Hmmmm, how about a little revenge?"  
"W-what do you mean?"  
Sakura gathered up some items then shoved them into Tomoyo's hands. She obediently walked into the dressing room and got dressed. As soon as Tomoyo was out of sight, Sakura ran out and bought a camera with a giggle.  
  
Tomoyo had the same look as Sakura did when she looked at the clothes given to her. Tomoyo was left with what appeared to be a Cleopatra outfit. It consisted of a tan unitard, which was quite tight, and some golden chain mail-like articles. She also had a set of sandals and a crown. Tomoyo disrobed and put on the costume. It was very formfitting, but didn't show anywhere near as much as Sakura's angel outfit. She finally understood exactly how embarrassing it must be for her poor Sakura. Tomoyo sighed and walked out comfortably. She met her friend and struck a very seductive pose for her. A flash of light then suddenly blasted her.  
  
"What was that?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Just the camera I bought next door" Sakura explained.  
"Oh, ok..... A CAMERA!?"  
"Yes, I want to show Eriol just how hot you really are!"  
Tomoyo glared at her friend, then snatched the camera from her. "Fine, but I have to show Rob and Syaoran just how hot YOU are!"  
Sakura giggled then agreed.  
They spent half an hour at the store trying on different costumes and taking pictures for the guys. They'd only wished that Meiling had come. Afterward, they picked up a few costume accessories and headed home. Of course, they also stopped to develop all of their pictures on the way.  
  
  
Eriol's House, Meditation Chamber  
  
Rob had been meditating silently for hours. Meiling was beginning to get worried, but each time she tried to enter, a surge of energy knocked her away from the door. Eriol was slightly worried, but only because Rob's aura had undergone odd changes. Its color and intensity varied greatly in the past hour especially. Finally, he sensed his aura return to normal. Meiling was ready to great the being who left the chamber. But, this being did not wish to be welcomed.  
Shinigami, not Rob, stepped from the chamber. His black wings were folded tightly against his back and his golden braid snaked down his front side.  
  
"Hey Rob! Uh, what's with the new look?" Meiling questioned.  
Rob simply glared at her and moved past.  
"Rob, what's wrong?"  
Rob completely ignored her and continued to walk.  
Meiling was a bit concerned so she put a hand on his shoulder and asked him, "Is there anything wrong?"  
Rob snapped his head to look at her and gave her a venomous glare.  
Meiling was surprised and withdrew her hand on instinct. She figured that he would never do anything to hurt her, so she took a risk and hugged him tightly.  
He stopped and looked down at her emotionlessly. He flared his aura strongly. So strong that She instantly flew back several feet, landing on her back. She then just watched the god walk away.  
  
"We're here!" Sakura walked into Eriol's house and yelled.  
"Yeah, and we brought presents!" Tomoyo called.  
They then sighted Shinigami walk through the halls. Sakura dropped her bags and ran over.  
"Shinigami-sama, what's wrong?" she asked.  
He stared at her briefly then replied, "I have sensed an evil building, and I may require you, Eriol, and Li to assist me."  
Sakura nodded then went upstairs to change into a new battle suit that Tomoyo had designed. She was going back downstairs as both Eriol and Li were running up to change. She heard Eriol call Nakuru and Suppi. She similarly called Kero and Yue telepathically. She ended up nearly bumping into Shinigami, who was waiting just inside the front door.  
"Is it Akuma?" she asked the god.  
"No, however it is one of his more powerful minions."  
"Will we be able to beat it?" she asked.  
"Yes, it should offer little resistance."  
"That's good to know" Sakura commented as she heard Eriol and Li come back down.  
"We fly" Shinigami said simply as he walked out the door and spread his wings, ready to take off.  
"Kero isn't here yet, we don't have enough wings" Sakura told Shinigami.  
"Use Fly on Li" he replied.  
She did as she was told, but then asked, "How am I going to fly?"  
Shinigami seemed to just appear behind Sakura and grabbed her by the waist. She let out a yelp of surprise as he immediately took off holding the sorceress. Li didn't like how the god was holding her, but knew that he could do little about it.  
  
Soon, Kero and Yue joined them in the sky. Kero flew under Shinigami and he dropped Sakura onto her guardian. Shinigami was completely silent for the entire trip, making everyone else very nervous and crept out. They soon arrived at the battleground and soon a very dark aura made its presence known.  
  
"I am Tsulao, my master Akuma has sent me to destroy you" it spoke.  
"If you want us, come and get us!" Li yelled.  
Tsulao glanced at a timepiece, "No, I will give you thirty minutes to prepare and rest. That is how gracious I am." He put the piece away and disappeared. I bubble of energy formed around the area, ensuring that no one could exit.  
"The coward! Why does he not come and fight us now?" Li said angrily.  
"Calm yourself, my cute little descendant. He has given us time and I suggest that we use it.  
"Sakura, come hither" Shinigami spoke silently.  
Everyone quieted and Sakura walked up to him. They conversed quietly.  
"Sakura-sama, I have a way of strengthening you and your cards for the upcoming battle."  
"You can?"  
"Yes, but there is a problem. It shall take a minimum of 45 minutes to complete. You realize the problem."  
"Yes, I do. But, surely Eriol and Syaoran can protect us long enough to carry out your plan."  
"If I begin, I cannot stop until I hath finished. The effort will drain me. I will not be able to revive fallen warriors or help after I do it."  
"Eriol! Li! Can you guys protect us from that thing for about twenty minutes?"  
Eriol and Li walked over and Li answered, "Sure we can, or die trying. Why?"  
"Shinigami-sama has a plan that will make me more powerful, but that thing will attack before we finish" Sakura informed.  
"Alright, we'll start by arguing with it to give you some time, but we'll only last ten or fifteen minutes after the fight begins" Eriol estimated.  
"That will have to be enough," Sakura said then turned to the god, "let's do it!"  
"Your book and key..." Shinigami said, stretching a hand out to take them.  
Sakura instantly gave the articles to him. "I may not have my cards," Sakura stated, "But I may be able to use MY magic to help you."  
Eriol and Li nodded as Shinigami began to concentrate. He was soon enshrouded in his black aura, though it was swirled with bright pink.  
  
The rest just waited around. Eriol was giving Sakura a few tips on how to use her magic supportively. It would take him too long to teach her to focus it into an attack, but this way she'll be able to heal them and restrain Tsulao. Li was practicing his sword with Nakuru. Yue and Suppi meditated while Kero gave himself a pep talk by promising himself all kinds of pudding if they win. All too soon, though, their thirty minutes were up and the evil returned.  
  
"Well, isn't this pathetic," Tsulao said disappointedly, "The god has retreated and the most powerful magician is nearly powerless. Oh well, I guess that I'll won't have as much fun as I thought..."  
Li smirked at him, "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of fun with you."  
Tsulao got slightly angered and charged Li. Li parried easily and Eriol hit Tsulao with a blast of fire. Before the smoke cleared, all four guardians sent their strongest attacks in as well. They settled in a circle around the cloud of smoke. A gust blew the smoke away, revealing a smiling and untouched Tsulao.  
"You think that will be enough to defeat me?" the evil one questioned.  
"Well, we were sorta hoping" Eriol stated.  
"An all out attack rarely works, especially when it's slow enough to allow your opponent to block!" Tsulao said.  
"Then you won't block this time!" Sakura yelled as Tsulao tensed with his hands above his head. She was using her magic to hold him open to attack. His eyes widened as he felt all of the auras around him flare wildly.  
"This'll leave a mark..." he mumbled to himself as a full barrage of energy attacks hit him and hit him repeatedly. Sakura released her hold from fatigue. A singed and cut evil being was very angry after being let go. He moved faster than they all expected.  
  
First, he took out Li. He crept up on him quickly and knocked the sword out of his hand. Tsulao then kicked him to the ground. The evil caught Nakuru in a charge and she soon found herself on top of Li. Eriol tried an attack with his staff, but he missed and Tsulao kneed him in the stomach while he was off balance. He was then hit on the head, slamming him into the ground. Eriol was out of the battle.  
Nakuru and Yue attacked together from opposite directions. They managed to keep Tsulao busy for a few minutes. Suppi and Kero were getting ready to attack once they were knocked away. Yue and Nakuru were sent to the ground and while Tsulao was smiling in triumph, another set of guardians bit into his arm and leg. He screamed in pain, but knocked Suppi away. Kero held him while his partner rammed Tsulao into the ground. All of this had taken about twenty minutes.  
  
"Sakura!" Shinigami called.  
"Shinigami-sama! Are you done?"  
"Hai, here" he handed the book and to her.  
They didn't look much different. The colors were darker and the golden trim was brighter. Also, the book now read "Goddess Book" and the Star key now had a sakura (cherry blossom) in the circle at the top. Sakura petals replaced the wings that were once there.  
"Sakura, this change is temporary, so use the power wisely. I also need a moment to give you a quick power up."  
"Go ahead!" she told him.  
He grabbed her arm and she suddenly felt her aura become twice as strong as it had ever been. She turned to face her opponent and Fly gave her a beautiful set of wings, four wings. The cards now responded to her thoughts, rather than her calls. She entered the battlefield.  
  
Tsulao was surprised when he was suddenly surrounded by white and blue flames (Fiery). These flames where so hot that he nearly passed out, but he stood his ground. He was then met with a large sword (Sword) that he barely avoided, but didn't avoid the kick (Fight and Power) that sent him sprawling. Before he got up, he found himself surrounded by five Sakuras (illusion), all circling at high speed (dash). One stepped forward and grabbed him from behind, three of the Sakura vanished leaving one to beat the restrained form (mirror). He broke free, but suddenly found himself unable to see (Shadow) or hear (Silent). All he knew was that he was high in the air (float) then was slammed down hard (Windy). He tried to get up, but was surrounded by a cage of rock (Earthy). He was suddenly blinded again by a bright flare (Light) then surrounded by darkness (Dark). He was then hit Hard by an arrow moving faster than he could have been ready for (Arrow and Shot). She thought that he'd had enough, so she combined Light and Arrow and fired it at Tsulao. The arrow of light pierced his heart and he disintegrated. (For those of you who were too lazy to count, she just used 16 distinct cards in quick succession without verbally calling for them.)  
  
She stood over were the evil was, then the energy that had been given to her left her. Her eyes rolled into her head and Shinigami used his last remaining strength to catch her before she hit the ground.  
"Will she be alright?" Syaoran asked.  
Shinigami only nodded his head.  
"Good, we should get her home to rest" Eriol said, limping over and holding his head.  
"I'll take her..." Shinigami said as he picked her up and took flight.  
Everyone just watched him leave and left their own ways.  
  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
Sakura and Rob were alone in her room. He had just laid her in her bed and sat on a comfortable chair to sleep and keep watch over her. Just as he was about to drift off...  
  
"Robbie?"  
"Yes Sakura?"  
"You said that you defeated the Goddess of life to become the god of death."  
"Hai" he said as a tear rolled down his cheek, remembering that day.  
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?"  
"It was a very sad and horrible day for me."  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."  
"No, I'll tell you. Go to sleep and I'll show you in a dream."  
"Alright" Sakura said as she curled up. She soon fell asleep.  
Rob walked over and sat on her bed. He placed his hand on the back of her neck, giving her the memory of what happened.  
  
Sakura's Dream / Rob's Flashback  
  
Sakura opened her eyes to be inside a dark cave. She thought that it was a normal cave, but she then began to see its size as her eyes adjusted. It was massive and contained a large lake that let out an eerie, orange glow. This was Rob's home, his birthplace. "This is how it looked before..." It soon turned into a ruined city aflame. The buildings were collapsed and broken and all of the life that she'd felt was gone, except for one boy. She walked up to that boy and instantly recognized him. "This is how it looked after, all because of that poor boy..."  
"But," Sakura said unbelievingly, "That's you, Rob."  
  
  
Fin Chapter Seven  
  
We finally get to know something of Rob's past. It seems that he was quite powerful, but very destructive. Will Sakura see a side of him that she shouldn't? Find out next chapter! 


	8. Rob's past

Chapter eight is here. We're coming down to the final stretch here! The final battle should be next chapter! Yes, I only intended this to be about ten chapters long. I'll also try to cover enough ground here so that all or most of next chapter will be the final battle. Well, here is Rob's past, and the dark secret that he carries...  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own D'ni or the Saiyans; those belong to Rand & Robyn Miller and Akira Toriyama, respectively.  
  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Sakura's Dream / Rob's Flashback  
  
Sakura was standing in a vast cavern that stretched as far as she could see. There was an eerie orange glow that came from the massive lake that filled her view to the right. It was a low light, but she could see fairly well by it. She gazed upon the great city before her. Everything was made from stone, but it was extremely colorful and gave almost a warm feeling. The rock seemed and felt warm, almost soft. She had no idea how they'd managed that. The city was in many layers, each layer apparent associated with a different social class of people. She was on the uppermost level, where the rock gleamed and had many beautiful colors. It was odd and unfamiliar, yet wonderfully lovely.  
She then saw the people. They looked hum, but on closer inspection she found that they were different somehow. Their bone structure was finer, more delicate. Also, their skin was very pale, as were their eyes. Some had large pairs of goggles hanging loosely about their necks. No one seemed to notice her. In fact, she found that she couldn't touch anyone, for her hand passed through them.  
  
"This is my home. The great City of D'ni," a voice behind her spoke, "These people have lived here for ten thousand years, completely isolated from the rest of the planet."  
She turned and saw Rob standing there in his black robes. She noticed that he was on the verge of crying.  
"I lived here for fifteen years of my life, but I was never accepted" he continued, pointing to a boy, himself, that everyone was avoiding. He looked quite sad. "All because I was different. You see, I wasn't fully D'ni, my father was an alien who crashed into one of the minor caves when his ship was damaged."  
Sakura tried to take all of this in. She then realized that he wasn't human, not even half human. Though, he looked D'ni enough, why was he avoided?  
"I had special abilities," the scene changed to him by himself on a southern island, "I had my father's ability to use and manipulate energy fields around me. I could fly and create the balls of energy that you've seen. This energy also gave me untold of strength, speed, and agility."  
She saw him begin to practice his martial arts, an odd art that she'd never seen before. She assumed that he'd created the art himself.  
"I was avoided and shunned by all because they were afraid of me. They knew that I had the power to destroy all of them, maybe even the planet if I became inclined. They were right to be frightened, I was more than capable of all of that."  
Sakura began to feel profoundly sad for him. He had been alone all of his life, shunned by people who were afraid of him.  
"Then she came," the scene changed to a happy Rob, giving a girl a piggyback ride. She seemed to be his girlfriend. Oddly, she looked a lot like Sakura, just a D'ni version. He continued, "She was not afraid of me. I didn't understand why at first, until she decided to fight me, and we tied. She was at least as strong as me and very loving." The scene changed to show then cuddling together on a couch, apparently sleeping in each other's arms. The Rob that was telling Sakura all of this smiled.  
Her remorse was weakening, as she saw that perhaps he was truly happy. That thought left her as she saw a tear roll down her guide's cheek.  
"I called her Taigahn, which is D'ni for love, because that's what she meant to me. Then, something awful happened." It suddenly grew dark, giving Sakura the impression of 'night'.  
"What...?" Sakura didn't understand the feeling of sadness that was overcoming her. Then she saw it. Two people, a D'ni woman and a male that wasn't D'ni. "His parents..." it dawned on her a she felt auras like Rob's. She then felt them die.  
She was taken back an hour to see the couple together, holding hands. They were just minding their own business, then a man came. He had what seemed to be a crude gun of some sort. Without warning, he rushed them and shot them in their backs. He used a sharp bit of his weapon to mutilate them both horribly disfiguring them. The worst part is that he was a bad shot, and the woman was alive and conscious throughout the whole gruesome procedure. She was sobbing and crying while this man did this to them. "That was Veovis, a man bitterly opposed to my father's entrance to the D'ni gene pool. He was a political figure that preached 'D'ni purity.' That fool killed my parents because of his prejudice and ignorance. But, that doesn't matter now." She then saw Rob run up to his slain parents. He was sobbing freely as he held his bloody parents as he felt their lives slip away. He finally felt them leave him, and he placed them carefully back on the ground. He then positioned them in eachother's arms to honor their eternal love. He finally arose, covered in his parent's blood.  
"I was enraged by all of this. Taigahn tried to calm me and console me, but it was no use. I tossed her aside and tapped into the power that I'd been hiding for some time now."  
Sakura saw an enraged Rob suddenly glow with golden light. His hair lengthened and reached down to his waist, but was wild instead of braided. The green eyes that seemed uncommon among D'ni became brighter, even his pupil became a dark green. (That would be SSJ level three for the DBZ fans out there.) They were glowing with pure power and hatred. Hatred for everything, she thought. Taigahn tried to stop him, but she was easily thrown aside by his great power. His power was beyond anything that Sakura had ever sensed, including him in his other form.  
"I destroyed the city, and killed everyone. I did it all with my bare hands and I-I...." he couldn't get the rest out because he was sobbing freely now, "And I enjoyed it. I took the greatest pleasure in-in... Ripping that scum Veovis to pieces. I-I-I just couldn't stop. I ripped people limb from limb and burned their bodies. I took the whole of one gahr-tah-vo, about six hours, to kill all but Taigahn."  
Sakura stared in horror as this evil thing destroyed every single person, well over a thousand. He took his time with each and made sure that they were all tortured to death. He did it without pity or hesitation to men, women, and children alike. Luckily, he only showed her ten minutes of it. Rob was now on his hands and knees, sobbing like Sakura had seen no one sob before. There was a small puddle on the ground before he regained enough of his composure to stand shakily and continue.  
"She was the last one. I approached her, my anger still at its peak. She then transformed into a something that I hadn't expected. She was enveloped in a white and pink light. She emerged with a large set of pure, white wings. Her hair had become platinum blond and was in a braid that nearly reached her ankles. Her eyes were now a glowing, pale pink."  
Sakura watched as the changes he was describing began. She was beautiful and angelic. She also noticed that she barely wore more than a white strip of cloth held on by a golden chain. That reminded her of the costume Tomoyo had forced her to wear earlier that day.  
"Ken Yaa tso Tsahvehn!" this being called.  
"'I am the Goddess of Life'" Rob translated from D'ni for Sakura.  
"They fought briefly and the goddess gained the upper hand," Rob commented on the action going on, "She began to heal and revive all of the people that I had killed." Sakura saw her do this, but she also sensed Rob's aura ready to explode. "I was enraged that she was undoing my 'justice' and I changed again," the guide said as Rob grew a brown tail, his eyes turned golden, and his hair became the same color of his tail. (Again for the DBZ fans, that'd be level four, aka legendary.)  
Sakura saw this change and Rob charged the Goddess. She was caught by surprise, but had no chance. Rob had dealt her a mortal blow and she him. They both lay on the ground near each other, dying.  
"I'm sorry," both Robs stated in unison, "I'm truly sorry."  
Sakura saw the goddess move toward Rob, and he moved toward her in response. She climbed on top of him and they embraced weakly. She whispered something to him in D'ni, but Sakura knew that she was forgiving him. They embraced as she suddenly took her godly form again. Except, this time she was glowing white and her eyes were silver. Rob was surprised, but not as surprised as he was when that golden aura left his girlfriend. The aura hovered above her briefly, looking like a winged specter. That aura then entered Rob through every orifice. His eyes, his ears, his mouth, all were filled by the golden light.  
"She gave me a gift. She sacrificed her own immortality to save me, and make me a god." She died on top of him, he embraced her tightly not wanting to let her go. "I don't know how long I stayed there. I was now a god, so I didn't grow hungry or tired. I think I held her for years, using my energy to keep her 'alive.' I could still feel her aura, and I thought that she was still alive, but that was just residue from her giving me that power. I finally let her go and she withered away."  
Sakura watched that poor, distressed boy holding his dead love, desperately not wanting to believe that she was dead. Her heart felt like it had been tied in a knot, and she cried with Rob. She cried until she saw him move. Rob spoke again.  
"I was lost without any direction. I was so frustrated, not knowing what to do, that I flared my aura to greatly, sending off waves of death. This would only give a person an odd chill, but it was enough to kill the bacteria that made the water glow."  
Sakura watched as the lake's glow slowly died, leaving them in the most complete darkness imaginable.  
"I don't know exactly how long I mourned down there. It must have been at least 500 years..." Sakura gasped as she heard that number.  
"Was he really down in this darkness for 500 years?" she thought to herself. Her sorrow intensified and she cried more. She dried for all the dead people, for Rob's dead girlfriend and goddess, and for Rob himself. He must have been so incredibly lonely.  
"I slowly learned how to use my powers and became proficient at them," he chuckled before continuing, "I even rebuilt part of the city. Perhaps it was a way to ask forgiveness for my horrible acts. I eventually searched for the auras of other people and found a world above that was vastly populated. It was the surface of Earth."  
She saw him, in very dim light, begin to make his way to the tunnels. The bacteria in the lake finally begun to grow again, giving some soft light. Her view changed again to see Rob emerging from the ground, exactly the same as he looked then, and now. She began to wonder exactly how old he was.  
  
Everything faded away and Rob and Sakura were in a dark room together.  
"I understand if you hate me now that you know who I am and what I've done" Rob said sadly.  
Sakura wanted to tell him that she didn't hate him, but couldn't find the words. So, she ran up to him and hugged him tightly, crying.  
He held her and stroked her hair softly, "What's wrong Sakura?"  
"I don't blame you, what happened was horrible and it shouldn't have happened, but I don't blame you. You can't even think about it without crying, perhaps you've suffered enough" she tried to comfort him.  
"No, I can't begin to suffer enough for what I did. I simply destroyed all of those people and the woman I loved because I was angry. There's no excuse. It's fine if you don't wan to know me anymore. As soon as the Akuma situation is over, I'll leave, never to be seen again."  
"No, please don't leave!" Sakura was beginning to cry again.  
"Why not?"  
"Because I-I-I lo.." she was crying too much to finish.  
"Because you what?"  
"Because I love you!" she blurted out and hugged him more tightly.  
He was a bit surprised. He thought that no one could ever love him again after what he had done. He was glad and hugged her back tightly after his initial shock. "I love you too, my Cherry Blossom."  
They held each other in this dream world, both crying. Sakura crying for the horrible events of Rob's past, Rob crying in happiness that he knew love once again.  
"You sure you want an older man?" he kidded.  
"That depends on how old you are" Sakura said, wiping away her tears while chuckling.  
"Oh, only about 800. I'm lost count after around 532" he giggled.  
"Good, you're just young enough for me!" Sakura squealed and held him tighter.  
  
They held each other in this way, enjoying each other's presence. They didn't speak, they didn't cry, they just held each other as they stood on the empty dreamscape. They felt content. Rob bent down to kiss Sakura, HIS Sakura as she faded away, waking from her slumber.  
  
  
Kinomoto Household, Sakura's Room  
  
Sakura stirred from her sleep to find that she could barely move. After her initial sense of panic, she realized that Rob had fallen asleep on top of her. His head was resting in the crook of her neck. She smiled inwardly as she wrapped her arms around him. He awoke a few minutes later.  
  
"Rob?"  
"Good Morning Sakura."  
"Sleep well?"  
"How could I have, reliving what I showed you?" his voice dropped in sadness. Sakura just held him tighter.  
"It's alright. Doesn't it feel better to tell someone about it?"  
"I guess it does. I can't forget it. You probably think that I'm some sort of monster" he said as he averted his eyes.  
Sakura lightly turned his head to look at her. "I don't care about what happened 800 years ago. All I care about is that I love you now."  
Rob felt a sense of warmness arise inside of him. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like. He hadn't felt it since Taigahn held him before she died.  
"Sakura, I love you too. With all of my heart and every fiber of my being."  
"Now, I have a problem" Sakura told him.  
"Oh?"  
"How do I tell Li about all of this?"  
"Uh, gently?"  
Sakura stared at him briefly before being sent into a fit of giggles. Rob couldn't help but laugh too as her form shook under him with laughter. He couldn't help but think that this was perfect. Everything about it was perfect, especially Sakura. He suddenly realized that she looked like a human version of his lost love, Taigahn. Perhaps she was her reincarnation? If she was, then Rob could use that to win the final battle. He quickly brushed such thoughts away for the time being.  
"So, are you planning on getting off of me?" Sakura inquired playfully.  
"Nope, I want to stay here with you, forever."  
Sakura was surprised by his answer, but also touched. "Well, you're going to have to let me up, I need a shower."  
He sniffed her and told her, "Yep, you sure do."  
"You suck!" she called as she got out from under him and headed to her bathroom. (That line is dedicated to Shey-chan!)  
He waited until she was finished then took his own shower. He was a perfect gentleman the whole time.  
  
  
Li Apartment  
  
"Xiaolang! Stop pacing this instant!" a female voice scolded in Chinese.  
"I'm sorry Meilin, I can't help it!" he replied, also in Chinese. The two preferred to speak in Chinese when alone together.  
"What's wrong?"  
"I don't know, I just feel something has happened."  
"Xiaolang, start making sense and start making it NOW."  
"I don't know what's wrong! I sense that something has happened to Sakura. Her aura feels different."  
"You can sense her at this distance?"  
"Yes, barely. Her aura feels as if it suddenly became more distant."  
"I wonder what it could be."  
"I have no idea. We can go over to her house today and check up on her."  
"Alright, let's leave in an hour?"  
"Agreed."  
The two went about getting ready to leave. They showered, dressed, and were out the door about an hour later. They climbed into the boy's car and he drove them to the Kinomoto Household.  
  
  
Eriol's Mansion  
  
Eriol and Tomoyo were spending a great deal of time together. She tended to sleep over at his house fairly often now, but Nakuru was always watching them to make sure they didn't get too friendly. Eriol walked up to Tomoyo with a rare, wide smile on his face.  
  
"Tomoyo! I've good news."  
"Oh, what about?"  
"The God and Card Mistress, of course."  
"Eriol, speak normally and spit it out."  
"Alright, alright. Jeez, a guy can't have any fun around here."  
"Eriol!" she was getting impatient.  
"Sakura and Robbie are now together. In fact, they slept in the same bed last night.  
"They slept together!" Tomoyo was horrified.  
"Don't worry, nothing sexual happened, he was a perfect gentleman. The two are now a close couple. Isn't that great?"  
"It's not great!"  
"Huh?"  
"It's KAWAII! Totemo KAWAII!" (Totemo is "very" or "really" in Japanese.) Tomoyo was jumping around squealing loudly. So loudly, in fact, that an old mirror in the room formed a large crack.  
"Ohhhhh! I really liked that mirror!" Eriol whined quietly, not wanting to ruin Tomoyo's mood.  
"Oh, but how are Li and Meiling going to take this?"  
"Li will get angry, but I have no idea about Meiling."  
"At least she knows better than to get violent with him."  
He chuckled, "One would hope so."  
  
  
Kinomoto Household  
  
The Lis had just driven up and were walking to the door. They rang the bell and waited to be admitted inside. Inside, Sakura was in the middle of wrestling with a pair of jeans, so she yelled for Rob to get the door. He was in the kitchen, looking in the fridge, so he put down his toast and headed for the door.  
  
"Hello, may I help you?" he asked absently while opening the door. He soon found a surprised Meiling and Syaoran outside.  
"What are you doing here?" Syaoran asked.  
"I brought Sakura home last night and I fell asleep telling her a story" he said truthfully, but leaving out important bits of info.  
"You spent the night?" Meiling asked, looking slightly confused.  
"Yes, would you two like to come in?" he invited.  
"Yes, seems like someone has a lot to tell us" Li said as he shoved past Rob. Meiling did the same, but in a more flirtatious manner.  
  
Sakura had just come down the stairs, her hair was still a little wet. Li noticed that Rob's hair was also wet and made the assumption that they'd showered together. He was a bit angry.  
"Sakura, what's going on between you two?!" Li asked angrily.  
"Li, sit down and calm yourself. You will not address a lady in such a manner!" Rob chided him.  
"Oh, and what are you going to do if I don't?" he asked.  
"I'm a god, pray that you NEVER find out what happens when you cross a god." Rob allowed his aura to flare to twice as strong as Li's.  
Li calmed down slightly and Sakura decided to start explaining.  
"Li," Sakura started and Li felt hurt that she hadn't used his first name, "Nothing happened. Rob brought me home after the battle last night and we accidentally fell asleep together."  
"WHAT!" both Lis yelled in surprise.  
"And, we have something else to tell you as well," Rob said, putting his arm around Sakura, who snuggled closer to him.  
"Oh, no, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Syaoran said incredulously. He couldn't believe it. Sakura was dumping him for Rob! Unbelievable!  
"We aren't, Syaoran. I'm sorry for being so sudden" Sakura said.  
"Meiling, I'm surprised that you're not upset. You've been flirting with me ever since I got here."  
"Well, uh, I kinda already have a boyfriend on Hong Kong" she explained sweatdropping.  
Rob chuckled and mumbled to Sakura, "I was worried that I'd have to fight her again."  
Li was still in shock but finally recovered.  
"I'll be leaving for Hong Kong in a few days then. I no longer have any reason to remain" Li stated, then started for the door. Meiling followed a moment later.  
"Syaoran, wait!" Rob called. Li turned, surprised to hear Rob call him by his first name.  
"You do have a reason to stay here" Rob explained.  
"Oh, and that would be?"  
"Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, Chiharu, and Yamikaze when he gets back. You can't simply leave all of your friends here. So what if you can't be Sakura's boyfriend. You can still be her friend."  
Li realized that he was right, but still started to leave on principle.  
"Syaoran!" Sakura called this time.  
Li turned to face her, ready to tell her that he was leaving no matter what, but was met with a tight hug instead.  
"Please, don't go! I still love you and want you stay. I want you to be my best friend and be here for me when I need you" Sakura said, nearly in tears.  
This surprised li, but he knew that he couldn't leave now. He did love his cherry blossom, and he wanted to be her friend if nothing else. He hugged her back tightly and he kissed her forehead.  
"Hey, that my girlfriend you're kissing!" Rob kidded.  
"Yeah, it is isn't it?" Li then kissed her passionately and held it for a few moments, enjoying possibly the last kiss he would give her. Sakura kissed back, but Li could sense a slight hesitation on her part. He released her and they turned to see Rob scribbling some notes. They both looked at him oddly.  
"I've barely kissed in about 800 years, I could use some tips" he explained.  
"No, you need practice!" Meiling called. She grabbed his lapels and kissed him roughly, but passionately. This surprised Rob, but he didn't struggle much. She was holding him quite tightly. Meiling dropped him and ran out the door giggling as Rob struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Li and Sakura were both giggling like idiots at the confused look the god had on his face as he sat on the floor.  
"That was... interesting" he said, forcing more giggles from Sakura.  
  
"I wonder what I'm going to tell Tomoyo" Sakura said while helping Rob up.  
"Tomoyo already knows" said a female with dark hair and amethyst eyes behind Sakura.  
Sakura dropped Rob back on the floor and hugged her best friend tightly. "How did you know, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.  
"Blame him" she said as she pointed at a blue-haired sorcerer still in the entryway.  
  
They all gave their salutations and retired to the living room. They sat on the couches as Sakura and Rob recounted what had happened when Li and Meiling had gotten there. Syaoran finally told Rob that he could call him Syaoran if he wished. Syaoran finally accepted Rob as a friend. Then the conversation turned to the night before, after Rob had taken Sakura home. Rob was forced to leave the room as Sakura told them about Rob's past. The memory was too much for him to bear, so he decided to make them all a nice lunch.  
  
"So, he killed all of those people?" Tomoyo asked, horrified.  
"Hai, he feels really guilty about it, though" Sakura said.  
"I remember that as Clow, I had heard about the advanced people who lived underground, but until now, I thought it was a rumor" Eriol explained.  
"What did you hear about them?" Syaoran asked.  
"Well, they were originally from another world, another planet. They came here about eleven thousand years ago. They were a peaceful people and they also had three hundred-year lifespan. They made many great things, or so the myth says" Eriol informed.  
"That would coincide with what you told us" Meiling said to Sakura.  
"Lunch is ready!" Rob said, bringing out a tray with club sandwiches on it.  
"So Rob," Meiling said between munches, "you're not human?"  
"Nope, not even the least bit human. My mother was D'ni and my father was an Elite Saiyan."  
"What were the D'ni like?" Eriol asked.  
"Let's see. They were a peaceful race. Lifespan of over 300 years. They came to the Age of Earth about 11,000 years ago. They have adapted weak eyes from being inside a cave for so many years, so any trip into the sunlight required the use of special goggles. They had a highly structured government. They also had a form of Magic, or at least that's what you would call it. They could write books with specially treated books and ink and a special form of their script to 'link' to other worlds. They came here from the great forest Age of Garternay. They could use this ability to go to any world that could possibly exist. From nearly lifeless 'prison ages' to the lush and green granary ages" he explained.  
The gang was in a state of shock over what they'd just heard. That'd mean that D'ni must have been a vast empire of many planets.  
"Can you..." Sakura began.  
"Yes, I know the Garo Hevtee, the special words and script required, but I don't have the special books or ink" he explained for her.  
"And the D'ni?" Li inquired.  
"I don't know much about them, except that they are extremely powerful and strong. Father didn't talk much about his people, but he did tell me that there was only a handful left. I believe that I'm the last one."  
"Wow, you're the last survivor of two races" Tomoyo said sadly.  
  
They continued to talk and soon they all knew what they needed to know about him. The conversation wore on and they talked about a number of subjects, finally deciding to go home around five in the afternoon.  
  
  
Narration  
  
The group went to school and did math and a certain someone was late everyday, as usual. They only had two days of school as Wednesday was Christmas Eve. Rob and Sakura were going out to movies and dating, as were Tomoyo and Eriol. Tired of being left out, Syaoran and Meiling even went out on a date. Though, Tuesday night they all had a strange dream, except for Tomoyo.  
  
  
Dream  
  
A dark being stood above Rob, Sakura, Meiling, Eriol, and Li. They were all in their battle garb with weapons drawn.  
  
"That's Akuma" Rob stated simply.  
"Yes, I am the Lord of Evil, Akuma. I warn you all now that I will appear to you tomorrow at sunset. If you are not in Penguin park to stop me, I will destroy the world, beginning with Japan!"  
They all shuddered slightly under his claim, except for Sakura and Rob. For some reason, they were completely confident that they could defeat him. Together, Rob and Sakura thought, no one could stand against them.  
The dream ended and all five sat up suddenly in their beds. They would have to fight soon, very soon.  
  
  
Narration  
  
The gang got up early that day and Rob advised them all to rest and relax in preparation for the attack. It may be important to be ready physically, but it was more important to be as strong as possible energy-wise. He told them that they would have to fight first, with him keeping his energy high enough to go one-on-one with him after he was tired out. They would probably all die, but he would use all of his strength afterward to revive them. Tomoyo was purposely kept out of the loop for her protection. A defenseless mortal had no business there.  
  
They continued their day, relaxing and conserving their energy. All too soon, it was time for them to go to Penguin Park. They were in the process of enlarging it, so there was a great 1000-foot by 1000-foot area that was completely flat except for a few trees. That was their battleground. As the last rays of the sun fell below the horizon, they felt a massive, evil aura descend upon them.  
  
"It's time.." Rob said as he took his Angelic form. He'd explained to them earlier that he had a normal, or base form, an angelic form, which he was in now, and a godly form, which none had seen yet.  
  
They all braced themselves as the aura took a humanoid shape...  
  
  
Fin Chapter Eight  
  
This is it, the final battle is upon us! Who knew that Christmas Eve would be so exciting? Well, I did, but that's beside the point. Anywho, I have a five-day weekend, so expect another update before Thursday. 


	9. Final Fight!

Konbanwa Minna! This is my second update in one day! Eat that Starrie and Azure-san! Although, I must admit that the last third of this chapter was completed before starting this whole story. I gave that bit to Azure-san, who convinced me to write the whole thing. Sorry Starrie, but I wanted all of this to be a surprise. I'd like to extend a very special thanks to both of them. Thank you for all the help that you've given me!  
  
Now, here is my action packed final battle! It's oddly short, but quite exciting anyway. Well, here's....  
  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Sakura, Shinigami, Eriol, Syaoran, and Meiling were on the battlefield facing the form of Akuma. This evil being was about seven foot tall, but his dark aura prevented one from seeing any other features. He glared at them with red, glowing eyes.  
  
"I am Akuma, and I have come to destroy you, and enslave your people" it spoke.  
Rob stepped forward and spoke, "I am the God of Death, and I have come to rip your soul from your writhing body."  
"Then, let us begin!" it called. He charged them and their original plan was put into motion.  
The humans were up first. Sakura used Fiery and Earth to herd, and then trap him. The guardians, Li, and Eriol used their magic to hit them as hard as they could.  
Although, Akuma soon broke free of its bonds and emerged, nearly untouched. He had a single fine cut along his chin line. He wiped away the blood and became angry at the sight of it.  
"You will PAY for that!" it screamed. It suddenly charged at Eriol. Nakuru jumped in front to protect her master, but Akuma simply drew a sword and went through both of them. Nakuru was badly injured, and Eriol was now dead. They'd seen their first casualties.  
It finally dawned on Sakura that Rob was right all along; they couldn't survive a fight against Akuma without the god's help. She hoped that they'd win, so that everyone could be revived. She felt that everyone was saddened by the loss, but they couldn't be slowed down, not yet.  
  
Next up were the three remaining guardians. The beasts looked like mirror images, both performing the same complex set of moves. They circled and rotated around it, trying to confuse it while Yue readied a few arrows of energy to fire simultaneously. Cerberus and Spinel soon gave him an opening and three arrows struck Akuma's back. They all stopped their attack to survey the damage done. Akuma ripped one of the arrows from its back and threw it at Yue. He dodged, but Cerberus, who was behind him, could not. He fell from the sky, soon dying from the arrow piercing his heart. Akuma used the two remaining arrows in its back on Spinel and Yue, but Yue luckily survived his arrow with only a minor shoulder wound. Spinel was in the same condition as his counterpart, dead.  
  
In ten minutes, the only guardian who could still fight was an injured Yue. He couldn't use his arrows anymore because his drawing arm was too badly hurt. The humans were amazed that they were beaten so easily.  
  
Suddenly, Meiling decided to get in on it. She jumped into the air and knocked Akuma to the ground. It got up and they started a hand-to-hand battle on the ground. Meiling was doing quite well, but Akuma was only waiting until she was worn out. Sakura got Power ready. Just when Akuma was about to kill an exhausted Meiling, she began to glow pink and kicked It in the head. Akuma was sent back quite a bit, but recovered and hit her even harder. Meiling was still alive, but clearly out.  
  
Li and Sakura went in using their swords. Akuma drew his as well and they began to fight. Sakura jumped to its other side like the cheerleader she once was so that they surrounded Akuma. Somehow, it still managed to ward off all of their attacks. Sakura and Li were remaining unscratched as well. Suddenly, Li drew out an ofudo and pressed it to Akuma's body without it realizing what had happened. A few moments later, he was given another opening and instead of stabbing It, Li pressed his sword against the ofudo. Akuma's body was racked with pain from the surge of thunder. In its weakness, Sakura and Li both ran it through with their swords. It screamed in pain, and then began to laugh at them. Their swords were forcefully expelled and it self healed, still laughing at them.  
  
"Hahaha! You think that those puny hunks of metal can stop me?" Akuma said, and then turned to Li. It rushed forward and gave Li a deep cut in his side when he tried to dodge. Li was still capable of fighting, but his capacity was greatly diminished.  
  
"I don't care! I'll give my life to defeat you, and to protect Sakura!" Li yelled and charged Akuma. Sakura tried to stop him, but it was too late. A small amount of Li's blood splattered onto her clothes. Sakura caught him, then held him as he fell unconscious. She kissed his forehead and stood, ready to fight again.  
  
Akuma glared at her and charged. "CLANG!" went the sound of its sword hitting metal. Only, her sword was untouched. She looked up to find a dark-robed figure with red eyes holding Akuma back with his scythe.  
  
"Better late that never, eh?" he asked Sakura.  
"You've got that right!"  
  
Sakura noticed Akuma's open posture and quickly used Shot and Arrow to put a hole in its side. It screamed in pain again, but again self-healed and became strong again. Sakura could notice small decreases in Its aura, but it would take forever this way.  
  
  
"Sakura, get back! I'll handle it from now on!" Shinigami called.  
  
Sakura withdrew, but Akuma managed to get a blast of energy to her. She was thrown forward onto the ground, a large round burn on her back. She was still alive, but badly hurt. Shinigami got slightly annoyed that his girlfriend had been hurt so badly.  
His aura flared and he attacked Akuma ferociously. It was caught off guard and was knocked to the ground. Shinigami started ripping at its flesh with his scythe and plunged it into him, trying to remove his soul and end the fight. But Akuma would not be defeated so easily.  
  
It laughed as it reached up to grab the scythe. The scythe reacted violently, throwing itself out of Akuma's body. Shinigami realized that Akuma's dark energy might make it impervious to the Death scythe's power. That meant that he had to kill Akuma, rather than simply get It weak enough to remove its soul. Why can't poor Shinigami ever get a break?  
  
They continued fighting for sometime, using sword and scythe as well as they could. Shinigami was more agile in the air and faster, but Akuma was physically stronger and its was energy greater. Shinigami used his speed advantage as best as he could, yet was still forced into conflicts of strength and power, which he had difficulty with. Though, he still had a secret weapon.  
  
"You die now god!" Akuma bellowed and charged a beam of dark energy.  
Shinigami chuckled and held his hands as if he were holding a ball to his side. Akuma let loose his beam and Shinigami chanted shortly, then a beam of blue light collided with Akuma's dark beam. The two were perfectly matched!  
"I can't believe this!" Akuma yelled, enraged.  
"Believe it!" Shinigami called back. His eyes momentarily flashed golden as he drew more energy. His beam was starting to edge toward Akuma slowly. Soon, Akuma couldn't hold out and the blue beam engulfed him. Shinigami had won!  
  
Or at least he thought he had, until a beam of red light came from nowhere and went right through his shoulder. Shinigami's eyes went wide as the surprise and pain hit him. He fell from the sky, hearing Akuma's laughter. It must have gotten away and hid its aura from him. That thing was clever. Shinigami flared his wings and landed in a crouch. He healed himself quickly before continuing the fight.  
  
The fight lasted long, too long. Shinigami was starting to run low on energy and was starting to show it. He was breathing heavily and his wings were sagging from the exhaustion. He had a plan though. He began leading Akuma to an old cemetery created by a local dojo for its dead masters.  
  
"Getting tired, my god?" Akuma said in mock concern.  
"Perhaps, but I'm far from done yet!"  
  
Shinigami hovered above the graveyard and charged his dark energy before landing in the exact center. Akuma felt him gather energy and decided to allow him to continue, curious as to what was going on. It didn't know that Shinigami had been relying on its naivety.  
  
"MY DARK ARMY! ARISE!" Shinigami called, flaring his aura and raising his hands. Akuma suddenly sensed nearly a hundred powerful, dark auras surround him. Every single one of the graves exploded with energy, and undead bodies were left once the dust cleared. Some were badly decomposed, others looked almost alive. Shinigami had ordered all of the dead martial arts masters to rise. Akuma felt all of these dark auras and became a little anxious.  
  
"MY ARMY, ATTACK!" Shinigami called and all of the undead beings attacked Akuma. It was surprised by the army's skill. They must have all been extremely well trained. They overwhelmed it at first, but soon Akuma feel into a rhythm of taking down its opponents. Shinigami figured that he had about ten minutes before Akuma finished. He decided to check on Sakura, Li, Yue, and Meiling.  
  
  
Penguin Park Clearing  
  
Shinigami flew back to the park and landed by Sakura. She was still alive, but barely. He looked around to find Yue kneeling over Li, stabilizing his life force. Shinigami assumed that Yue had stabilized Sakura first before moving on to Li. Yue would collapse soon, so Shinigami stabilized Meiling before returning to Sakura's side.  
  
"Sakura? Sakura!" Shinigami called her.  
"Huh?" she looked into his eyes and remembered what was going on. "Robbie! How are we doing?"  
"Not well my Cherry Blossom. Akuma is busy at the moment, but I only have a short reprieve before he can move back to me."  
"The others?"  
"Li, Meiling, Yue, and Nakuru are the only ones still alive. Nakuru is beyond my power to heal at the moment, so she will die soon."  
"Is anyone still able to fight?" she asked, trying to get up.  
"Yue is. You'll be as soon as I heal you," he said as he helped her up. He inspected her burn. Most of the flesh on her back was charred and what wasn't charred wasn't pretty.  
"You can heal me?"  
"Yes. Just relax," he instructed taking her into an embrace. He was careful, but noticed her wince when he touched her burned skin. He concentrated his energy and her wound began to heal. It took a while to heal her, perhaps over five minutes. He had to conserve his energy, so he drew energy from the life forces around him. Soon, she was at full health and full strength.  
  
"Can you heal Li and Meiling?" she asked, releasing her staff again.  
"I don't have the time. Akuma will be upon us in under two minutes."  
"Then let's get ready for him" she stated. He couldn't help but notice her resolve and persistence. "Greater" warriors would have run long before now, but she was still here and ready to win or die. At that moment, he loved her more than he thought possible.  
  
Soon, his reverie was broken by Akuma's voice.  
"So, you thought that little parlor trick could stop me?" it asked.  
"I knew it wouldn't but it distracted you long enough for me to revive the most powerful sorcerer here," Shinigami said, indicating Sakura. She had now taken a battle stance and had used Fly to give her wings. She realized that this would end up being an air battle.  
"And I'm ready too!" Li called, struggling to his feet.  
"That guardian of the Card Mistress's did that, didn't he?" Akuma asked angrily. "Well, that won't happen again!" it yelled as it sent an energy bomb at Yue. He tried to block or avoid it, but was too drained. Yukito was now on the ground, lying in a pool of blood, dead. Just then, Shinigami and Sakura sensed that Nakuru had also died. All of the guardians and Eriol were now dead.  
  
Li decided that now would be a good time to attack. He did a bold jump slash while Akuma's back was turned, but it kicked Li, sending him to the ground hard. It then walked up to him, grabbed his head, and snapped his neck. Li was now also dead. Akuma turned its attention to Shinigami again.  
  
They began to fight at a great pace. Sakura could barely watch them. Once she concentrated on their auras instead of their images, she had little trouble figuring out what was happening. She knew that at this pace, she would never have a chance to attack. She called fly back to its card form to conserve her energy. The two fighters were still going at it fiercely. Shinigami seemed to have the upper hand first, but Akuma wore him down and slowly gained it from him. Akuma was now beating the crap out of Shinigami and Power didn't have any effect on him. Sakura tried dash as well, but no card could affect him. Shinigami's power was beyond her control or affect.  
  
After what seemed like forever, Akuma hit Shinigami to the ground. Shinigami had a severely drained energy level. He collapsed onto one knee and Akuma turned his attention back to Sakura.  
  
Sakura and Shinigami were the only ones left standing, so to speak. Many of Sakura's friends died in this battle. They just didn't know that Akuma was so powerful. Even the mighty God of Death was on one knee, severely drained of energy.  
  
Sakura tossed two cards into the air, "Power, Dash! Release and Dispel!" Sakura simply appeared in front of Akuma and started to punch and kick him as fast as she could. It just tossed her back and laughed.  
  
"Foolish human, you think that you can destroy me? HA!" It charged another ball of negative energy, enough to disintegrate Sakura without any trouble.  
  
Shinigami, who had been watching this exchange, finally realized what he had to do. Gathering his last stores of strength, he flew in and blocked the ball of energy. He screamed in pain as the energy broke through his wings, which he had folded to use as a shield. The force of the impact threw him into Sakura. Before he hit her, Sakura could see the state he was in. He was bloodied and bruised. One of his wings bent at a completely wrong angle, broken. His meticulous braid was nearly undone and had tangles in it. They lay on the ground, facing each other.  
  
"Why?! Why did you do that?" Sakura asked, not understanding the gesture. Her beautiful green eyes gazed into Shinigami's dark red orbs.   
"Sakura, I cannot defeat him. The next blast will finish me. I'm sorry that I've failed to protect you," he said to her with a sadness in his voice.   
On the verge of crying, she said, "What? No! You can't leave me now!" She then sensed Meiling's faint red aura finally give out. With that, she finally began to cry freely. Shinigami turned to see her soul escape her body and drift upwards.  
  
"Sakura, listen to me. I can help you win this battle, but I may not survive. Even if I do, I won't wake up for several weeks," he explained. "Please, just relax..."   
"No!" she yelled at him. "I won't let you risk yourself to save me!"   
"Sakura! If I don't do this, we'll both die and humanity will be enslaved or destroyed. Do you want that!?"   
"No..." She gave in and relaxed.  
  
Shinigami gave her a warm hug and kissed her on the cheek. His aura began to glow, it's darkness nearly surrounding both of them. Then, an interesting thing happened. His aura strengthened and became a golden color, almost white. His shattered, bat-like wings became shattered, feathered wings that were whiter than snow. His eyes turned from red to silver as well.  
  
Sakura could only gasp and think, "Oh my god, he is a god!" She then noticed his aura separate from him and hover a foot or so above him. He now appeared like a normal boy. He had deep green eyes, rusty brown hair, and no wings or aura to speak of. He looked very tired, but he struggled to see this technique through to the end.   
The aura then curved around and entered Sakura. She was shocked to say the least by this event. She tensed up as the light swarmed around her, then entered every orifice of her body until it finished. She then ended up being a very confused Sakura, still lying on the ground with this boy on top of her, still looking very much the same.  
  
"HAHAHA!" Akuma bellowed. "That was a wasted technique! Now that you're both human AND mortal, I'll finish you both with one attack," he called as he charged more energy. He then fired on the pair, but the attack was deflected by a pair of.... light pink wings!?  
  
The wings unfolded to feature a new Sakura. Her hair had become platinum blonde with pale pink highlights, and it also lengthened. Her eyes were a light pink as well. Her wings were a beautiful pure white, accented by random pink feathers. She looked... heavenly. She was also naked. No, not naked, but she was wearing little more than a white strip of cloth secured by a golden chain.  
  
Rob was still on top of her. He was smiling at her weakly, then he promptly collapsed onto her, sound asleep from the energy loss. She only chuckled at the God of Death, and kissed him softly on the lips as she laid him down. She then cast a protection spell on him. Drawing her sword, seemingly from nowhere, she turned to face her opponent.  
  
Akuma looked at her and commented, "That's a nice look, the skimpy robes and all."   
Sakura smiled at him as more substantial, pure white robes with pink trim appeared on her body.   
"Who are you? The Fairy of Beauty? HAHA!" he mocked.   
Sakura only chuckled and replied, "No, I am the Goddess of Life, and I shall take yours..."  
  
She then appeared in front of him and attacked. She was at her full Godly power, so Akuma was hardly a match for her. She attacked coolly and carefully, not once letting anger best her. If anything, she felt regret in destroying a life. Once he was on the ground, barely able to stand, she slowly walked up to him.  
  
"Akuma, now is the time for you to leave. To leave, never to bother anyone again," she said softly, almost regretfully. She then embraced him warmly. He struggled briefly but soon gave in as he disappeared in a flash of blinding light. He was no more.  
  
  
She walked over to her fallen friends, one by one, and brought them back to life and healed them with her powers. The float card was used to send them home to sleep. She then picked Rob up in her arms, spread her wings, and flew him home. Once there, she put him in bed and returned to her normal form. Suddenly feeling very tired, and knowing that he wouldn't wake for at least a few days, she climbed into bed with him. She briefly cuddled with him before falling to sleep herself.  
  
They had won. All had lived. Akuma is no more.  
  
  
Fin Chapter Nine  
  
Well, looks like everything worked out just fine! Next Chapter will feature the aftermath of it all! I might even mention the oddly absent Touya and Fujitaka element. Until then, adieu! 


	10. Victory Party!

Well, I hate to do it, but I announce that this is the last chapter of my story. It was been a long and difficult journey, for myself and all of those who have eagerly anticipated each chapter. Well, here it is, my final chapter.  
  
  
Final Chapter Ten  
  
Rob's Home  
  
Sakura and Rob are now sleeping together in each other's arms. They had fought the great and powerful Akuma and had won. Akuma was gone for another thousand years. Now, there are two beings that will fight him. The God of Death and the Goddess of Life. Together with their love, they would be able to defeat anything that threatened them. At the moment, though, that love was making a very frustrated Touya and Syaoran.  
After the battle, Syaoran went to Sakura's house, trying to see how she was doing. Touya became worried that something had happened to Sakura when she hadn't come home and the Li kid asking about where she was didn't help. It took some doing, but Li's Lasin Board (I forget the Japanese name) finally locked onto Sakura's aura. They followed it to Rob's home, a building that they never seen before. They quickly used the magic of the board to find them together.  
They looked so peaceful and calm together. They were entwined with one another, one could barely tell where one ended and the other began. Neither seemed to be in great health. Both had most of their robes ripped to shreds. Both were bruised and there were some bloodstains on the sheets. Li tried to reach over to check them for pulses because he could see little to no breathing from them.  
  
"AAAAAAH!" Li yelped as Shield and Thunder stopped him from touching them.  
"Are the Sakura Cards doing that?" Touya asked.  
"Must be. Shield, Thunder, return to your power confined!" Li ordered. The two cards expressed their reluctance by making a pink shield rippling with electricity appear.  
"Well, that didn't work" Touya commented.  
"There must be a card or something that can at least tell what's going on" Li said as he reached for the Sakura Book. The first card he pulled out surprised him, for he had never seen it before.  
"There's a Love card? I didn't know that" Touya said, glaring at the card.  
"There isn't, Sakura must have created it last night."  
"Well, call it forth, see what it will tell us."  
Li nodded and called the card forth. It drained him a little, but soon a beautiful woman appeared before them.  
  
The woman seemed to be around eighteen or so. She had long flowing golden hair, sparkling blue eyes, and pale skin. He skin was flawless and smooth, and there was plenty of it to see. This card was completely nude, only her hair protected her dignity. Such a beautiful card stunned the two men.  
"Who are you and what is going on?" Li demanded after regaining his composure.  
"I am the Love card, created by the love of a god and goddess," she answered.  
"What? What god and goddess?" Touya asked, confused. He was not fully briefed on everything that was going on.  
"The God of Death, Robahsu Fehstern. The Goddess of Life, Kinomoto Sakura" she explained.  
Li noted Rob's D'ni name, but had more pressing matters. "Why can't we touch them?" he asked.  
"The two are in a state of hibernation, one might say. They are entwined and feeding off each other's energy. Separating them could be extremely hazardous to them, so I ordered Shield and Thunder to protect them" Love explained.  
"How long until they recover enough to wake up?" Touya asked worriedly.  
"They are both strong, and so is their love. It would normally take two weeks, but I sense that they will only need to remain for one" she said.  
Li asked, "Is there anything we can do to help?"  
"No, unless you happen to know the Angel of Love or the Angel of Healing?" she replied.  
Neither knew of either, so they turned to leave. The rest of the gang and Fujitaka would want news soon. Love returned to its card form and floated back into the book.  
  
  
Rob and Sakura's Dream  
  
Two being of great power were standing in a vast field. The field was covered in beautiful wild flowers. Cherry blossom trees were arranged randomly in the meadow. The sun cast its warm glow upon them. We see that the two are holding each other softly, as if groggy. The girl looks up into the boy's green eyes and he looks down at hers.  
  
"Where...?" the girl asked.  
"This is our place. The Meadow of Life and Death," he explained.  
"What do we do here?" the girl asked him.  
"Whatever we want. This is our place, where nothing can hurt us. We'll be here for a week or so while our bodies heal."  
"Bodies?"  
"Yes, only our godly spirits are here. Our bodies sustained heavy damage and are recovering."  
"Can I somehow get a message out, tell everyone that I'm alright?"  
"No, I'm afraid not. I'm sorry. But don't worry, you'll be able to hold and be with your friends soon. Until then, we get a short vacation."  
"Just us, alone?"  
"Yes, Sakura. Just you and me."  
"That sounds wonderful Robbie."  
"I should probably tell you that my real name isn't Robert."  
"Then, what is it?"  
"Robahsu Fehstern."  
"You'll always be my Robah-chan."  
Robahsu chuckled, "And you'll always be my Saku-chan."  
"You can call me Taigahn, if you like."  
"No, let's lay her to rest. I think that she deserves peace at last."  
Sakura held him tighter, "Alright Robah."  
  
The two, the god and goddess, held each other warmly. They were completely content in each other's arms.  
  
  
Eriol Mansion  
  
Li was telling Tomoyo, Eriol, Meiling, and the guardians all that had happened. The guardians Yue and Kero told them that they'd found them early, but a barrier kept them from getting near the house. It was as if Sakura had given them an order to stay away.  
  
"So, Sakura is stuck behind that shield with Robbie for the next week?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Li.  
"But, what about all of their Christmas presents?" Meiling said.  
"Yeah, today is Christmas. I also felt bad not opening presents with her like I do every year," Tomoyo said sadly.  
"Well, we'll just have to throw them both a party once they wake up and give them their presents then" Eriol said with mock reluctance.  
"Yeah! We can give them a party to celebrate Christmas and the defeat of Akuma!" Nakuru stood and yelled.  
"I'll take care of food!" Meiling said. She had recently been learning many different dishes at home and had a few in mind.  
"I'll take care of dresses and suits!" Tomoyo called, with stars in her eyes.  
Everyone sweatdropped, but Eriol said, "You may use my main ballroom for the dance. Kero and Suppi will help me get it ready."  
"Awww! Why do I have to clean it up?" Kero complained.  
"Because you love your Mistress and would do anything to make her feel better," Eriol stated matter-of-factly.  
"Oh, good point" Kero grumbled.  
"Nakuru, you handle the party preparations and help me with the invites" Li ordered.  
"Alright, we all help decorate when not doing our individual assignments" Nakuru said, taking charge.  
"Alright! Let's get too it!" Li said.  
They all went off to their specific tasks. Yue turned back into Yukito and went with Tomoyo to get her sewing stuff. All of the work would be done at the manor to keep everything as secretive as possible. They had about a week, so they took their time and made sure to do everything right.  
  
  
Meadow of Life and Death  
  
Rob and Sakura were running around, enjoying the lovely weather. Robahsu decided to have a little fun so he tackled Sakura to the ground. They began to wrestle playfully. Sakura got away from him and started running away.  
"Catch me if you can!" she called.  
"Oh, I can!" he called back.  
He chased her into a grove of sakura trees and played a little hide-and-go-seek within the trees. Rob got an idea and leapt into the trees and hid himself.  
"Uh, Rob? Robahsu, where'd you go?" she called, looking for her love. She began to feel a little concerned about his whereabouts.  
"I'm right here!" he jumped down from a tree right behind her. She whirled around to face him and he backed her up against a tree, pinning her.  
"I got you, so now what?" he asked playfully.  
"I'm your prisoner now. What do you do with prisoners?" she said with just as much playfulness.  
"I've never had one so beautiful. I'm not sure."  
"Well, let me help you decide" she said softly as she leaned forward, capturing his lips in a kiss. He leaned into her a bit more and deepened the kiss. He broke away and just gazed into her deep green eyes.  
"Careful, you might get lost in there," Sakura commented.  
"I wish I could get lost in your eyes. They're so beautiful..." he trailed off.  
She gazed back into his green eyes. She thought it was funny how they both had green eyes.  
  
They simply gazed into each other's eyes, losing themselves within them. Rob broke the reverie by leaning in and kissing her sweetly. She simply pulled him closer.  
  
  
Eriol's Home, Two Days Hence  
  
It had been two days since they'd decided on the party and progress was being made, but slowly. They had no rush, so they took as much time as was needed to do everything perfectly. Even so, they were ahead of schedule, being half done in only two days. The ballroom itself was almost half done.  
  
"Suppi, Kero, put this streamer up there" Eriol ordered, indicating where he wished it to go.  
"Alright" they both agreed and flew up to hang it.  
Eriol chuckled. The two small guardians were quite useful with this work. They could hang individual streamers and other ornamentation in the vaulted room without any trouble. A team of normal people would take three times as long with more people to complete the same tasks. They came down and grabbed another set of decorations.  
  
The ballroom was a massive space. It was 50-foot by 50-foot with a 30 -foot vaulted ceiling. It normally had great wooden accents that made the room seem cozy and large at the same time. It would hardly look like normal for the party, though. Tomoyo told them of Rob's favorite color scheme, so they merged his and Sakura's colors into the decor. It was difficult to get black, green, and pink to work well together, but they'd managed it. The two fireplaces would also be going to keep the room warm in the cold weather. All in all, the space would look spectacular.  
  
Nakuru was making her rounds around the house, checking on progress. She would occasionally make notes on her clipboard to change plans to solve problems. She'd already had a few issues about serving food, which she worked out by having the resting room that hung off of the ballroom be a serving area. It was only a 20x20 space, but it was fine to serve the guests small snacks. Sakura's closest friends would attend a dinner before the scheduled starting time of the party.  
  
The party was to be semi-formal, allowing Tomoyo to make a few dresses and suits as necessary. So far, the party would start at about eight and go on until midnight. They'd figured that that would be plenty of time. The people working on the celebration would wear outfits of a set color scheme, signifying them as the hosts. That way, everyone would know who to ask if they needed anything, as some were not well acquainted with the gang. Rob and Sakura would make their grand entrance at nine o'clock and would hold honored places at the back of the ballroom. Tomoyo thought that they were gods so why not specially honor them? No one really thought of them as gods, but as friends. Still, they agreed, thinking that the couple would get a kick out of it.  
  
Nakuru came up on Tomoyo's temporary sewing room. She found a very focused girl checking a dress on a mannequin.  
"Tomoyo, how's it going?" Nakuru asked.  
"Huh?" Tomoyo said as she snapped out of her reverie, "Oh, right. This one is almost done. I just need a final fitting to make sure."  
"Who's is it?" Nakuru said as she admired the dark blue material. It seemed to shimmer slightly as she felt the material. It was also made of silk.  
"Yours, actually" Tomoyo informed her with a wide smile.  
"Mine? But, it's beautiful and made of silk. I couldn't possibly... could I?"  
Tomoyo laughed at her reaction but said, "Of course you could! It's yours. Take it and try it on. I've set that closet up as a changing room." She pointed to a door as she lifted the dress and gave it to Nakuru.  
A few moments later Nakuru emerged looking beautiful in her dress. Tomoyo had a talent for fitting dresses. It was snug at her waist and ribs, but billowed and flared in just the right places. It had a single spaghetti strap that went around her neck. The back stopped a few inches below her shoulder blades. The skirt was full and thick, but it moved freely when she twirled. Nakuru expressed her love of the outfit before changing back and handing the dress to Tomoyo.  
"Do you know what we'll do to distinguish ourselves as hosts?" Nakuru asked the seamstress.  
"Here," she said as she handed Nakuru a blue band that had a slight stretch, "We'll all be wearing arm bands that compliment our dresses. That way, I don't have to worry about a limited color palette yet we'll still be distinguishable.  
"Cool. That'll work just fine. Keep up the great work Tomoyo!" Nakuru said as she left.  
"You too!" Tomoyo called after her before starting Li's suit.  
  
Nakuru checked on Meiling as well. She was getting everything ready. Meiling was starting her work on a large dessert and had already finished most of the entrees. Nakuru told her to assist Tomoyo once she was done, which would be tonight or tomorrow. Nakuru then went on to Li, who had just come in the door. He had gotten out all of the invites and already had half of them confirmed as definitely coming. He turned over his clipboard for her approval. She commended him, and then asked about Yue. He was at Rob's house, watching over Sakura and Rob. He would also be their early warning system. With him, they would know the exact moment that Sakura woke up.  
  
The party would be ready soon.  
  
  
Meadow of Life and Death, Three Days Hence  
  
They'd spent their first five days just being with each other and relaxing, now they would take their last two to train themselves. Sakura had great difficulty entering her angelic and godly forms. He explained to her that a god/goddess had three forms. A base form, where one appears normal. An angelic form, which is designed to be threatening and it gives one a great boost of power. And a godly form, where the true nature of the god/goddess's power is revealed.  
  
They were both in their angelic forms fighting each other fiercely. Sakura was using her sword while he used his scythe. At the end of the two days, Sakura's power had tripled and she could freely enter her other two forms.  
  
"Sakura, we leave here in two hours."  
"I know, but I almost don't want to leave."  
"I know, I know, but we can't stay here forever. Your friends are worried about you."  
"What shall we do in the last couple of hours?"  
"Well, we could sleep."  
"No! We won't sleep!" she sighed as he chuckled.  
"We could kiss some more. That's always fun."  
"How about something different?"  
He sniffed her, "You could take a bath."  
She hit him playfully. "Fine, but you're coming with me!"  
"Woohoo!"  
"Nuh-uh, it won't be like that." She concentrated and a pink bikini appeared on her, replacing her clothes.  
"Fine..." a pair of black and green trunks replaced his clothes as well.  
Sakura couldn't help but briefly stare at his chest, but snapped out of it and pulled him to the warm river.  
  
  
Eriol's Home, Just before Dinner  
  
The gang had picked up Sakura and Robahsu earlier that day and got them cleaned up. They dressed and gave them the outfits they would wear. They thought that they only had a formal dinner with friends, but would be surprised later by the party.  
  
The gang, excluding Sakura and Tomoyo, was waiting at the bottom of the stairs waiting for them. Li had on a black and green tuxedo and neatly combed hair. Eriol sported basically the same look, but went for red and black. Rob had a completely different look.  
He sported a traditional Japanese suit, a style normally reserved for Lords. It fit him well and was indeed designed to be form fitting. It was dark green with black trim. But, as a special touch, it was accented by a beautiful pattern in pink. He didn't know that Tomoyo had been working on it for sometime, but recently modified the tux into this, as she felt it was more fitting. It suited him quite well.  
Yukito was also there, dressed in a suit not too dissimilar from Yue's suit. It was white with a dark blue vest and trim. The vest and trim was made out of a silk that shimmered slightly. That made him a perfect match for Nakuru, who would be his date for the evening. Meiling had on a simple silk dress that looked Chinese. She also had her hair up in a topknot, held together with chopsticks. A generous length of hair fell from the topknot and was braided. She was Syaoran's date for the night, so she matched his colors.  
  
"Ok, here I am!" Tomoyo called, walking slowly down the stairs. She wore a beautiful silk dress that was a deep and rich red. It had a fairly low back and a medium-high slit. Her red heels clicked as she walked down the stairs.  
"Ahem! Now, the lovely, Kinomoto Sakura. The Goddess of Life!" She announced.  
Sakura chuckled and began to walk down the stairs slowly. The god was stunned. She had on the same dress she wore for last week, with a few alterations. Sakura was wearing a dark pink dress, the same pink as the designs on Rob's suit. It was sleeveless and had a low, plunging back. A pair of elbow length gloves covered her forearms and hands. The previously pink trim was now a dark green, once again matching Rob's outfit. The entire dress was made from a fine silk. Her hair was done up and a few strands were allowed to play over her face. Makeup was done perfectly by Tomoyo as well. She was the epitome of beauty, Robahsu thought.  
"Well, are you going to stand there like an idiot or meet me at the stairs?" she asked chuckling at his expression.  
"Oh, um, huh? Oh yeah! Right!" he stuttered before rushing over. He offered her an arm and said, "May I have the pleasure of escorting you, milady?"  
She put her gloved hand in his arm and said politely with a curtsy, "I would be greatly honored, kind sir."  
The whole group walked into the dining room and ate their meal, making small talk as well. Eriol left and they moved to the living the room to talk. About an hour later, Sakura finally asked her friend some questions.  
  
"Tomoyo, what's going on? Why are we all dressed this way?" Sakura asked.  
"Well, it's a secret!" she replied.  
"And when will this secret be revealed to us?" Rob inquired.  
"In about," Tomoyo glanced at the grandfather clock in the room, "Two minutes." She gave them a mysterious smile; no doubt it was Eriol's training.  
  
Tomoyo bid them to rise and they all started walking to the ballroom. Sakura figured that they'd set up some romantic dance just for them. Rob had no idea what was going on. Li got ahead of them and entered the Ballroom. Eriol had cast a spell on the space so that only sounds from magical people could be heard from the outside. Li quickly told everyone to clear the central isle and to be quiet. He knocked on the door to tell them that they were ready.  
  
Tomoyo heard the sound and knocked back. This puzzled the godly pair, but they just stood there and waited. They heard their names being announced from the inside.  
"I now present: Robahsu Fehstern, the God of Death, and Kinomoto Sakura, the Goddess of Life!" Li's muffled voice announced.  
Tomoyo smiled and opened the door wide. Rob and Sakura were shocked to find all of their classmates and friends and family there.  
"Well, are you going in?" Meiling asked playfully.  
"Sure" Rob said. Then he leaned over and whispered something to Sakura, who whispered something back.  
The walked in slowly hand in hand as the silent ballroom watched them. They stopped halfway down the isle and embraced. They then kissed. As they kissed, Rob's black-feathered wings unfolded and flapped a few times. Simultaneously, Sakura's pink and white-feathered wings did exactly the same. The entire hall cheered, even a reluctant Touya. They continued down the isle and stood in front of their thrones.  
"Thank you all so much for this. I just came here a week and a half ago, and yet you all have been so warm and kind to me. I really thank you all" Rob called, almost crying from happiness.  
"And I would like to thank you all for always being there for me when I needed you, especially for my math homework" she got a chuckle as she said that.  
"Now," they said in unison, "Let the party continue!" They kissed again before they sat. This would be the beginning of the great and long relationship. A relationship of love, love that could conquer all.  
  
  
Fin Story: "Watakushi wa Shinigami Desu."  
  
That's it. My story is finished. I'm sorry that the end was somewhat abrupt and that a few things weren't fully explained, but I think that this ending is fitting. It leaves it nice and open-ended for my sequel. Yes, I am planning a sequel. I'll start on it soon, but first I'd like a break. I'm mentally worn out after this weekend and I need to focus on my schoolwork. Well, I ask you for the first time to review and tell me what you think. I'll also entertain ideas on the sequel. Until my next appearance, Oyasumi! 


End file.
